A recall election targeting Camp Verde Vice Mayor Bruce George apparently will not be taking place, according to the Yavapai County Elections Department.
The election was originally scheduled to be held Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The cancellation of the election comes after Town Attorney Bill Sims sent a letter to the elections department last week pointing out that the petitions circulated to initiate the recall were not in compliance with Arizona law.
In particular, the recall petitions didn’t specify whether the person circulating a particular petition was a volunteer or had been paid to do so. The law in question is Arizona Revised Statute §19-204.
The Camp Verde Town Clerk’s Office had provided the petitions that had been prepared by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, an organization that works in the interests of municipal governments across the state.
Sims pointed to another section of state election law, ARS §19-201.01, in making his request to the elections department.
“In light of the clear language of ARS §19-201.01 that expressly requires all recall elections now to strictly comply with statutory requirements, and in light of the fact that the petitions failed to comply with ARS §19-204, I ask you to cancel the November 3, 2015, recall election,” Sims wrote in a letter dated July 30.
The elections department has to verify whether or not the paperwork submitted by a municipal government is in order before a recall election can be held but it is limited somewhat beyond that, said Yavapai County Elections Director Lynn Constabile.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Aug. 5, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.
