Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona Republic reports Rep. Daniel Patterson resigns from Arizona House:
State Rep. Daniel Patterson, a Tucson independent, has resigned his seat in the House.
Patterson gave his resignation letter to House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, who accepted the resignation.
"Effective immediately I have accepted the resignation of Daniel Patterson," Tobin said.
The decision comes shortly after the House Ethics Committee recommended the full House remove Patterson from office. The full House was expected to vote on expulsion this afternoon.
* * *
The bipartisan committee had made the recommendation after they questioned Patterson for two hours. The ethics allegations included intimidating other lawmakers, angry outbursts and domestic violence.
* * *
In his resignation letter, however, Patterson said he was "reluctantly" resigning "under strong protest."
"I have been forced to resign due to the fact that the House has become a very hostile work environment," Patterson wrote. "Due to this, I am no longer able to serve my constituents in the way they deserve."
Patterson said he may consider suing Arizona to keep his seat.
"All possibilities are on the table," he said. "To be expelled would put voters choices in jeopardy."
There is now a "vacancy" in office due to a "resignation." Here is the key provision: A.R.S. §41-1202(A):
A. If a vacancy occurs in the legislature and the vacant seat was represented by a political party that is organized pursuant to title 16, chapter 5, article 2 and that has at least thirty elected committeemen who are from precincts that are in the legislative district and that are in the county in which the vacancy occurred, the following apply:
1. The secretary of state shall notify the state party chairman of the appropriate political party of the vacancy. Within three business days after notification of the vacancy by the secretary of state, the state party chairman of the appropriate political party or the chairman's designee shall give written notice of the meeting to fill the vacancy to all elected precinct committeemen of the appropriate political party from precincts that are in the legislative district and that are in the county in which the vacancy occurred.
2. Those elected precinct committeemen shall nominate, within twenty-one days after notification of the vacancy by the secretary of state if the legislature is not in regular session or within five days if the legislature is in regular session and by a majority vote, three qualified electors to fill the vacancy who meet the requirements for service in the legislature and who belong to the same political party and reside at the time of nomination in the same district and county as the person elected to or appointed to the office immediately before the vacancy.
There has been some talk about Daniel Patterson changing his political party registration recently to "independent/no party preference." His action does not affect the rights of the Arizona Democratic Party to appoint his replacement in Legislative District 29. Subdivision (A) of the statute clearly provides that political parties that are recognized by the state get to make the appointment, and "Independent" is not an organized political party.
A.R.S. §41-1202(C) further clarifies, "For the purposes of this section, "appropriate political party" means the same political party of which the person who was elected to or appointed to the office was a member immediately before the vacancy occurred." The only election immediately prior to the vacancy was the 2010 election. Again, "Independent" is not an organized political party. The will of the voters of LD 29 is entitled to deference. They elected a Democrat.
The Arizona Democratic Party will have three days to notice a special meeting of Legislative District 29 Democrats — which creates a unique situation since the Pima County Democratic Party is in the process of reorganizing to new districts this Saturday. While the LD 29 Board members will continue to serve until the new legislative districts are finalized, the district organization will cease to exist.
This triggers A.R.S. §41-1202(A)(5):
If the elected precinct committeemen of the appropriate political party fail to fill the vacancy within twenty-one days if the legislature is not in regular session or within five days if the legislature is in regular session, as provided in subsection A, the state party chairman shall notify the board of supervisors of the appropriate county and the board of supervisors shall fill the vacancy as provided in subsection B. The time frame for appointing a citizens panel shall run from receipt of notification from the state party chairman.
I believe that we are looking at the appointment process under A.R.S. §41-1202(B):
B. If the vacant legislative seat was represented by a political party that is organized pursuant to title 16, chapter 5, article 2 and that has fewer than thirty elected committeemen who are from precincts that are in the legislative district and that are in the county in which the vacancy occurred or if the vacant legislative seat is not represented by a political party that is organized pursuant to title 16, chapter 5, article 2, the following apply:
1. The board of supervisors of the county of residence of the person elected to or appointed to the office immediately before the vacancy shall appoint within three business days after a vacancy occurs a citizens panel to submit to the board within seven business days the names of three qualified electors who are members of the appropriate political party and who are residents of the legislative district and county in which the vacancy occurred to fill the vacancy. If the person elected to or appointed to the office immediately before the vacancy was a registered independent, the qualified electors shall be registered as independent.
2. Within five business days after receiving the list of names submitted by the panel and by a majority vote of all of the supervisors sitting as a board, the board of supervisors shall appoint one person from the list of names submitted by the panel to fill the vacancy.
I will concede that the statutory language of subsection (B) at first blush appears to be in conflict with subsection (A) and creates some ambiguity with the meaning of "immediately before the vacancy occurred was a registered independent," but there is no ambiguity in A.R.S. §41-1202(C) which provides, "For the purposes of this section, "appropriate political party" means the same political party of which the person who was elected to or appointed to the office was a member immediately before the vacancy occurred."
The language in subsection (B), "If the person elected to or appointed to the office immediately before the vacancy was a registered independent, the qualified electors shall be registered as independent," is properly understood to refer to an Independent elected or appointed to the office immediately before the vacancy.
The act of an elected individual changing his political party registration while serving in office is not contemplated by the statute and should not be given any force or effect. This would only invite political mischief of the sort that Daniel Patterson engaged in, and would produce an absurd result that thwarts the will of the voters, something the laws of equity do not condone. The will of the voters of LD 29 is entitled to deference. They elected a Democrat. If the elected individual can determine the outcome by an eleventh-hour change of party affiliation, then the statute should address this possibility, and it does not.
If this is the interpretation to be given the statute, it flies in the face of the laws of equity and the statute needs to be amended.
In any case, it appears that Daniel Patterson re-registered again prior to his submitting his letter of resignation, rendering this dispute over ambiguity in the statute moot. Pima County Dem chair: Patterson re-registered as a Democrat before resigning | Arizona Capitol Times:
[S]hortly before he resigned today, Patterson re-registered as a Democrat, according to the Pima County Democratic chairman.
Patterson made the voter-registration change at the urging of Democratic leaders in southern Arizona, said Pima County Democratic Chairman Jeff Rogers.
The move means that Patterson could be replaced in the Legislature by a Democrat, not an independent, as Arizona law would require if Patterson quit as an independent.
The Secretary of State's office will verify on Thursday morning, when the voter affiliation files are updated with registrations that were filed today.
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