Aug 29, 2008 1:31 pm US/Pacific
Ariz. Ballot Campaign On Affirmative Action Ends
PHOENIX (AP) ―
Supporters of a proposal to ban affirmative action in Arizona said Friday they were abandoning a lawsuit aimed at getting the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative campaign had contested the state's conclusion that it hadn't collected enough valid signatures, but the campaign issued a statement saying it couldn't review all the signatures rejected by election officials in time.
The effort to amend the Arizona Constitution will be made anew for the 2010 ballot, the campaign said. "Arizona voters will have a chance to vote on this important issue."
The proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution was intended to dismantle state and local government preferential programs for women and minorities.
Former University of California regent Ward Connerly bankrolled the initiative. His group already has been successful with initiatives in California, Washington and Michigan. A similar measure is on Nebraska's ballot and another is pending in Colorado.
A judge late Thursday gave the Arizona initiative campaign until next Wednesday to finish its review of approximately 6,000 signatures rejected by Maricopa County. The campaign said that wasn't enough time because the county was letting it use only two voter-registration computers to check the signatures.
Though county elections officials were helpful, "no matter how helpful they have been, the fact remains that our campaign and those who signed our petitions have been cheated," the campaign said.
County Elections Director Karen Osborne testified during a Thursday evening court hearing that workers preparing to conduct Tuesday's primary election needed to use the county's other voter-registration computers.
Supporters of the measure submitted 334,735 petition signatures, but Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer said this month that reviews by state and county officials indicated that only 194,961 were valid. More than 230,000 valid signatures were needed to get the measure on the ballot.
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