Ariz. Supreme Court Upholds Ruling Barring City Council Candidate From Ballot Over Poor English Skills

The Arizona state Supreme Court has upheld an order barring a city council candidate from appearing on the ballot because she doesn't speak English proficiently.

As The Blaze previously reported, a judge ruled last month that Alejandrina Cabrera's name could be removed from the ballot in the March 13 race for the San Luis City Council after her English skills were questioned. State law requires elected officials know English, but Cabrera's attorneys said the law doesn't define language proficiency.

Following the judge's ruling, Cabrera appealed to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the order Tuesday. The Arizona Republic reported the state's high court did not provide a reason for its decision. A full written ruling is expected at a later date, a state Supreme Court spokeswoman said.

John Minore, an attorney for Cabrera, told the newspaper his office is considering ways to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cabrera has acknowledged she needs to improve her English, but said her language skills are adequate for serving San Luis, a border city where Spanish is used as often as English.

The initial ruling keeping Cabrera off the ballot was handed down based on tests conducted by a sociolinguistics expert, as well as Cabrera's inability to respond to questions posed to her during an English hearing, The Blaze previously reported.