Arizona immigration law: Papers pulled to have voters decide

Mary Jo Pitzl -
Apr. 26, 2010 05:21 PM
The Arizona Republic .

A former Phoenix City Council candidate said he is organizing a petition drive to repeal the state's new immigration law.

Jon Garrido, who produces an Hispanic Web site and ran unsuccessfully for council last year, pulled organizing papers Monday from the Arizona Secretary of State. He said he expects to be on the street gathering signatures in the next 10 to 14 days.

A referendum on Senate Bill 1070 would require the signature of 76,682 registered voters to get on the November ballot. Circulators would have until 90 days after the legislative session ends to return petitions to the Secretary of State. The session is expected to end sometime in early May.

If the effort gets enough signatures, the referendum would block the law from taking effect until voters could have their say.

Garrido noted the uproar the bill has created and said that he would rely on volunteers to circulate the petitions.

"There's an army of them," he said.

Retired Phoenix attorney Gary Peter Khlar said he is helping to organize the referendum. He predicted the effort will draw support from across the nation and suggested that professional sports players, such as Latino players with Major League Baseball, would be involved in urging repeal of the immigration law.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... 26-ON.html