Dredd persuaded new chief judge McGruder to permit the citizens to vote in a referendum on whether democratic government should be restored, or the existing Judge System should be retained. McGruder agreed because the Judges had lost much of their credibility in failing to protect the citizens from the Dark Judges during Necropolis: since the Judges' argument in favour of their dictatorial rule rested largely on their allegedly unique ability to protect the city and preserve order (which the last elected government had conspicuously failed to do), the Democrats' calls for reform were consequently more compelling than ever. The Democracy Referendum was scheduled for 2113, and was not popular among the rank-and-file judges, or even the senior ranks, since almost everybody predicted that the unpopular Judges would lose the vote by a landslide. So much did the Referendum depend on Dredd's personal support that Judge Grice and other judges even tried to assassinate him to prevent the vote from going ahead.