Arizona’s top court agreed Wednesday to decide whether a Nov. 8 recall election will be held for state Senate President Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican known nationally for championing legislation against illegal immigration.
A Pearce supporter’s appeal of a judge’s ruling against a challenge to holding the recall election was filed with the mid-level Court of Appeals. But the Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a request by sides in the case to accept transfer the case to the high court. That bypasses the Court of Appeals so there’s a ruling in time to avoid any interruption in the election process.
The Supreme Court will consider the case Sept. 13 during a closed-door conference, without hearing oral arguments, spokeswoman Jennifer Liewer said.
The Aug. 12 ruling by Judge Hugh Hegyi of Maricopa County Superior Court threw out the lawsuit filed on behalf of a Pearce supporter seeking to have the election called off.
The challenge alleged flaws in the recall drive’s paperwork meant that recall supporters hadn’t submitted enough valid voter signatures to force the recall.
Issues in the case included whether petition circulators determined that voters’ signatures were “genuine” and whether voters residing in the district could sign the petition though they still had previous addresses outside the district on voter registrations.