New Mexico: Silver School District Recall effort in front of court

The recall effort against Silver School Board President Arnold Torres, VP Tony Egan and Secretary Chris Arvidson, led by former board members Tom Law and Gerald Billings, is now going to the Judicial District Court for a hearing on whether there is sufficient cause to allow a recall (New Mexico is a malfeasance standard/judicial recall state).

There is another debate, one that we've seen before. The petitioners is claiming that they have to collect signatures from 33 1/3 of turnout in the last election (in 110 days). But the clerk and Secretary of State are claiming that they need the signatures from people who actually voted in the election -- a vastly more difficult number. However, the actual number of signatures are 45 for Torres, 22 for Egan and 18 for Arvidson.

Petitioners are also possibly going to run into some scheduling issues, as local elections are banned within 50 days of a state election.