Arizona’s elections director said she inadvertently gave an incorrect timetable to the organizers of a drive to recall controversial Senate President Russell Pearce, forcing a change in strategy in the historic recall effort.
Elections Director Amy Bjelland said she initially told recall organizer Randy Parraz that if he filed his signatures by May 25, there would be enough time to verify them and schedule a November election.
But Bjelland since has notified Parraz that Gov. Jan Brewer has 15 days to officially call an election if the signatures check out, not five. The difference of 10 days in the recall timetable means Citizens for a Better Arizona already has missed the actual deadline, May 10, to turn in the signatures for a November election and can only hope for a March 13, 2012, election.
A March recall election would fall midway through the next legislative term. Parraz and the organizers were hoping for a November election, which, if successful, would force Pearce out before the next session convenes.
“I was not factoring in the governor’s 15 days,” Bjelland said. “It is what it is. I felt terrible about it.”
Parraz said Citizens for a Better Arizona was hoping to force a November election by turning in far more than the required 7,756 signatures by May 25, based upon Bjelland’s original timetable.
Full Article: Russell Pearce recall may be pushed to 2012 due to error.