On October 15, a state court in Arizona halted the November 3, 2009 election for City Council in Prescott, because the ballot had omitted Paul Katan. See this story from the Prescott Daily Courier. Prescott uses two-round non-partisan elections for city council, and in this election, is electing three councilmembers at-large.

Katan placed seventh in the first round on September 1, and only the top six vote-getters were allowed into the November run-off. But, after the first round, the candidate who had placed fifth withdrew. The city then printed ballots with only five candidates’ names on the ballot. Katan believed at that point that since he had placed sixth among the candidates who had not withdrawn, his name should be on the November ballot. He first agreed to be a write-in candidate in November if the city would take steps to inform the voters of his write-in candidacy. When the city did not do that, Katan sued, and has won. The election will be postponed because it is too late to print new ballots and still hold the election on November 3. The city may appeal.