Arizona Legislature rushes to fix candidate signature glitch

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s Legislature is rushing to fix a glitch created by the once-a-decade re-drawing congressional and legislative district lines that has led to wild swings in the number of qualifying signatures candidates need to collect to appear on the ballot. New district maps and numbering led to the issue. The Legislature’s decision two years ago to move up the primary added to the problem because filing deadlines for public offices were moved up. The fix is that candidates can choose the lesser of their new district’s required signatures or the statewide average of all legislative districts, which is 492 for Republicans or 469 for Democrats. The House unanimously passed the emergency measure Thursday morning and the Senate plans an afternoon vote.