Prop. 200 on Arizona ballot, but votes may be thrown out

An immigration measure that is drawing attention from national organizations will appear on Arizona ballots but it may not be known until just before early voting starts whether votes cast on that measure will be counted. Maricopa County, the state's most populous county, last week began initial steps of printing its 1.4 million ballots and Superior Court Judge Mark Armstrong disclosed yesterday that he refused Friday to halt that process as a union had requested in a lawsuit filed the same day. However, attorneys said courts still can order that the votes cast on Proposition 200 (Protect Arizona Now) not be counted if he finds that it didn't legally qualify for the ballot in the first place. While Proposition 200 has drawn opposition from groups such as the 1.6 million-member Service Employees International Union and the Mexican-American Legal and Educational Fund, national groups opposed to illegal immigration back it and helped pay for collecting signatures to put it on the ballot. [more ]