Arizona: County validates more than enough signatures for AZ Senate President Pearce recall election | Arizona Capitol Times

Elections officials in Maricopa County have so far verified as valid more than 8,000 signatures submitted by a group seeking to recall Senate President Russell Pearce.

This means it’s almost certain that a special election will take place – most likely this November – since the recall group, Citizens for a Better Arizona, only needs 7,756 valid signatures.

Karen Osborne, director of elections for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, said her office has so far gone through about 13,600 signatures and validated 8,239 of them as of today.

Arizona: Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne angry at feds’ brief in support of 9th Circuit decision | Arizona Republic

Arizona State Attorney General Tom Horne is blasting President Barack Obama for getting involved in another Arizona lawsuit. The federal government has filed court documents supporting a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to strike down Arizona's voter-approved requirement that residents provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

The court ruled that the National Voter Registration Act pre-empts Arizona's Proposition 200, which was passed by voters in 2004. The state successfully asked the court to reconsider the decision and an 11-member judge panel of the Appeals Court will rehear it June 21 in Pasadena, Calif. Among its provisions, the National Voter Registration Act creates a standard federal registration form that all states must accept. It requires applicants to sign a statement that they are citizens, but does not require them to show any proof.

Arizona: Group Determined to Get More Signatures to Arizona Senate President Recall Pearce | myFoxPhoenix.com

Tuesday marks the deadline for one group looking to force a recall election of state Sen. President Russell Pearce. The group needs thousands of valid signatures from Mesa residents in order to move the recall effort forward.

Organizers with the Citizens for a Better Arizona believe they not only have enough signatures, they're going for a kind of end zone spike symbolic victory as well.

Arizona: Russell Pearce recall may be pushed to 2012 due to error | The Arizona Republic

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.

Arizona: New concerns raised over Tucson all mail election | Fox 11-KMSB Tucson

When voting this year, residents won’t be heading to the polls. Weeks ago, Tucson’s city council voted to make the switch to an all vote by mail election. It was a decision that stirred up controversy.

But news of missing mail ballots in Sahuarita is causing concern. On April 5 the council weighed whether or not Tucson can handle an all mail election. And after hearing from the public, council members decided the answer was yes, an all vote by mail election was the best way to go.

Arizona: Arizona: ‘Misplaced’ ballots raising concern over all-mail vote – Arizona Daily Star

The U.S. Postal Service “misplaced” about 85 mail-in ballots for an upcoming all-mail election in Sahuarita, Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said Friday. While replacing the ballots was relatively easy for a smaller-city election, the incident is raising questions about the Tucson City Council’s recent decision to switch to all-mail voting. This is the first time the Recorder’s Office has heard of the Postal Service losing ballots, said Rodriguez.

The disappearance of what “appears to be a single mail tray” of ballots was discovered when voters, all in the same section of the Quail Creek neighborhood, started reporting they hadn’t received theirs a week after they were mailed out.Just over 12,000 ballots were mailed to Sahuarita voters on April 21. So far, 85 voters have requested replacements.Rodriguez said the problem appears to be limited to “a single tray” of ballots intended for that neighborhood. With 1.6 million mail-in ballots sent in Pima County over the last decade, “this is a very rare occurrence,” she said.

Arizona: Awaiting Governor’s decision, Tucson’s mail-in elections hang in the balance | KVOA.com

Governor Jan Brewer has a lot on her plate this week, more than 100 bills to get through over the next few days. One of those bills is SB 1331 and it could prohibit Tucson from having mail ballot elections. Just this month the Tucson City Council decided all voters would get mail-in ballots for the next two elections in August and November of 2011.

Shortly afterwards, State Representative Ted Vogt, from Tucson, added something to that senate bill that could stop the city in its tracks. However the City is saying, ‘not so fast.’

Arizona: Tucson’s mail-in election may violate state | KOLD.com law

Tucson city leaders voted two weeks ago to hold all mail elections. It was a way to save money for a cash starved city and increase voter turnout. But Republicans at the state legislature have different ideas.

After the city vote, the lawmakers inserted language in SB 1331 which in essence says Tucson can’t do that. Any other city in the state can hold mail in elections, just not Tucson.