The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Mark Syms, an independent candidate for the state Senate, cannot appear on the ballot in November.
The Arizona Capitol Times reports Vice Chief Justice Robert Brutinel said Wednesday the "evidence is abundant" that Syms, the husband of Rep. Maria Syms, R-Paradise Valley, fell short of the 1,250 signatures he needed to qualify for the November general election in Legislative District 28.
Syms had appealed a similar ruling by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge, who in June found that Syms was 757 signatures shy of qualifying.
The superior court ruling leaned heavily on a review of Syms petitions conducted by the Maricopa County Recorder's Office, which reviewed the 1,930 signatures challenged by the husband of Syms' political opponent, Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix. Their review found that 1,675 of those signatures were invalid.
