Juan Carlos Escamilla, a Qualified Elector of the City of San Luis, Yuma County, State of Arizona…

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the disqualification of a city-council candidate who lacked sufficient functional English proficiency to perform the duties of the office. It held that the applicable statute requires comprehension sufficient to conduct those duties without an interpreter, upheld the admission of expert linguistic testimony, and rejected the constitutional challenge. The court also held that the election-decision deadline was nonjurisdictional and caused no prejudice when exceeded, while declining to award attorney fees.