Judge gives go-ahead for Arizona recall election
The Associated Press

Friday, Aug. 12, 2011 | 5:03 p.m.

A Nov. 8 recall election against a politician who authored Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law can go ahead as planned, a judge ruled Friday.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Hugh Hegyi threw out most of a lawsuit that alleged flaws in the recall drive against state Senate President Russell Pearce.

The lawsuit by Pearce supporter Franklin Bruce Ross sought to have the election called off on the grounds that recall supporters fell short of the required 7,756 voter signatures from Pearce's district in Mesa. Election officials say recall backers handed in 10,365 valid signatures.

The lawsuit alleged that there were flaws with signatures on petitions calling for the election, on affidavits completed by people who collected signatures, and on other paperwork associated with the recall drive.

Recall organizers contend they had "substantially complied" with all requirements for calling a recall election, while Pearce supporters say recall organizers should be held to a "strict compliance" standard and that the election should be called off because of errors.

Hegyi ruled that strict compliance is not the law in Arizona, except for unusual circumstances that aren't present in the Pearce recall challenge.

Pearce is one of the nation's most outspoken advocates for tougher border enforcement. The Republican from Mesa was the driving force behind several Arizona immigration laws, including last year's immigration enforcement law and a 2007 law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Lawmakers in other states have tried to enact some immigration proposals first championed by Pearce.

He tried to win passage this year of immigration measures, but he and his allies suffered a major defeat on the Senate floor as a majority of the chamber killed five bills after business leaders urged lawmakers to step back from the contentious issue. Despite the setback, Pearce is still seen as a powerful figure at the state Capitol, with significant influence over the fate of the state budget and other legislative proposals.

Recall organizers have been critical of his views on confronting the state's border woes and say he has failed to focus on protecting public education and ensuring access to health care. Pearce has said he strives to promote schools, job creation, balanced budgets, law enforcement and secure borders.

Pearce was first elected to the Legislature in 2000 when he won a state House seat, and he has been re-elected to the House and Senate every two years since. He crushed a fellow Republican in a 2008 race who tried to capitalize on a business pushback to the state's employer sanctions law. He also won re-election in November 2010, finishing more than 20 percentage points ahead of the nearest challenger.

Charter school executive Jerry Lewis, a Republican from Mesa, is running against Pearce in the recall election. Republican Olivia Cortes also has made initial filings to run in the Nov. 8 race.

The challenge said county officials should have disqualified the signatures of voters who didn't write their address or the date when they signed the recall petition. County officials, who along with recall organizers and state officials asked for the lawsuit to be thrown out, argued that there's no evidence to determine that people collecting petition signatures had completed that information.

The lawsuit also said there were more than 700 petition signatures of people whose addresses were outside of Pearce's legislative district in Mesa. County attorneys say election officials don't have the authority to throw out signatures simply because the registration address of a voter hasn't been updated.

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