On September 22, the Arizona Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the city of Phoenix, in Jones v Paniagua. The issue is how many signatures are needed for a city referendum. The law says the number of signatures must be 10% of the vote cast in the last city election. But the uncertainty involved knowing which was the last city election, the 2007 first round (which had a high turnout and included the Mayor’s race), or the 2007 second round (which just had contests in some city council districts, plus a citywide ballot measure), which had a far lower turnout. The State Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of the second round, which meant far fewer signatures for referenda this year.

For many years, Detroit has been the only city among the 20 most populous cities in the U.S. that elects all its city council members at-large, instead of by district. An initiative petition to switch to districts was submitted this year. On September 22, the State Court of Appeals ruled that the initiative is valid, so it will appear on the November 2009 ballot. Last week a lower state court had invalidated the initiative, but that decision has now been reversed. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news. UPDATE: thanks for the comments, which caused me to be more specific what I meant by “large” cities.

On September 21, the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest state court in that state, ruled that Governors may appoint new Lieutenant Governors when that office becomes vacant. Therefore, Governor David Paterson’s appointment of Richard Ravitch is valid. Skelos v Paterson, no. 183. Here is the decision.

New York was without a Lieutenant Governor after former Lieutenant Governor Paterson became Governor, due to the resignation of the previous Governor in the middle of his term. Thanks to HowAppealing for the link.