Tucson City Council Election Result Stands as Court Denies Re-Election Request
A recent court decision has halted efforts for a new primary election concerning a Tucson City Council seat. This follows a legal contestation regarding the integrity of the August 5 primary election results.
In the closely contested Ward 3 primary, Sadie Shaw, challenging incumbent Kevin Dahl, lost by a mere 19 votes. This narrow margin led to an automatic recount, which was subsequently paused due to Shaw’s legal action. Shaw claimed that 76 voters in the ward were disenfranchised due to receiving incorrect ballots.
Judge Wayne Yehling of the Pima County Superior Court decided against nullifying the election results this week. “The court determined that based on the evidence presented, there wasn’t sufficient evidence of disenfranchisement,” explained Jim Barton, Shaw’s attorney and a Ward 3 voter who joined the lawsuit. “In other words, although it seems obvious that there was some interference with these folks being able to vote, that it wasn’t enough to amount to disfranchisement.”
Barton noted the challenges in constructing a compelling case within a limited timeframe, emphasizing that predicting voter behavior in such a small-scale primary is particularly difficult. “That kind of projection is not really available when you’re talking about, you know, 76 votes and 25 precincts in this kind of election — also, they’re all Democrats, because it’s a primary, so with that context it would be much more difficult to do that,” he stated. “The pace is breakneck on these things because we run our primary elections and then we immediately print our general election ballots, like within weeks after.”
Last month, the Recorder’s Office acknowledged that nearly 1,300 ballots with incorrect political party information were dispatched due to a city data error. However, fewer voters were ultimately affected than initially estimated. The city maintained that affected voters were still able to vote after the error was addressed. Barton stated that Shaw and her legal team would not pursue an appeal, and the recount for Ward 3 is expected to proceed.
Arizona has experienced similar election-related legal challenges over the past year, such as a disputed Phoenix Union School High School Governing Board race and another case in Cochise County.
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