Arizona: judge disqualifies GOP candidate for forgery
AP reports: A judge ruled that a Republican legislator committed petition forgery and ordered him removed from the ballot in a key Senate race.
If upheld on a possible appeal, the ruling by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge removing Rep. Russell Jones of Yuma from the ballot would deal a serious blow to Republican hopes of winning a veto-proof majority in the Arizona Legislature in November.
State law requires that a person who signs the back of a nominating petition as its circulator be present when voters sign the front.
Judge Kenneth Fields ruled in a challenge filed by Democrats that Jones engaged in forgery to get a place on the September primary ballot when he signed at least nine petitions as the circulator "knowing that he did not obtain the electors' signature in his presence." -- Petition violation could keep GOP's Jones off ballot | www.azstarnet.com ®