THAT'S A WRAP! Arizona Supreme Court Reverses Trial Court, Removes City Council Candidate For Residency Issues

In its final nomination challenge of the season, the Arizona Supreme Court threw a City Council candidate off of the ballot because he will not have lived in the city for more than a year when the "primary election" takes place in August.

This reverses the trial court's verdict that Steven Caros' would be permitted to remain on the ballot for the Prescott Valley Town Council, and echoes a Supreme Court opinion from this past December, in which the Justices determined that Payson Mayor Tom Morrissey would not face a recall election.

Both cases turned on the fact that some municipal elections have a "primary election" in which the result is final - i.e. there will not be a "general election" - if one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote. "When the primary effectively functions as the general election, the residency requirement refers to the date of the primary election," said the four Justice panel today.

Today's Decision *almost* marks the end of this year's court challenges of nomination petitions and qualifications. The Supreme Court ruled that State Rep. Shawnna Bolick can stay on the ballot, but promised to issue a full Opinion "in due course." (Also, it is likely that there will be challenges of initiative petitions that will be turned in within the next month.)