P.O. addresses OK, Arizona court says

The Arizona Supreme Court agreed Tuesday with Arizona state Sen. Albert Hale - if you use your post office box as your address on nominating petitions, they are valid.

This means that Hale, a Democrat from Window Rock, is still a candidate for re-election in November. His candidacy was challenged by Royce Jenkins, who will face him in the general election.

But Hale said Tuesday, shortly after the opinion was released, that the decision doesn't clarify all issues surrounding the use of post office box addresses and it's still possible that persons who use only their P.O. address could have their signatures rejected.

"The court decision says that people who use their post office box will be assumed to be valid," said Hale, who added that if there is a challenge that the burden will be on the candidate to prove that they are valid.

The issue has been brewing for the last three months as Jenkins argued that people who sign petitions for the various candidates must have a valid street address and a P.O. box doesn't suffice.

Hale's position is that people in rural areas, such as on the Navajo Reservation, often lack a street address and home mail delivery.

Hale's district covers parts of three counties - Apache, Navajo and Coconino - and while Apache County officials accept P.O. box addresses on nominating petitions, the other two counties did not.

The state high court ruling will require Navajo and Coconino counties to accept the P.O. boxes but they would have the right to reject these signatures if there is a challenge.

Because of that, Hale said the state Legislature will have to get involved to resolve this problem. He added that he plans to draft legislation for next year for the legislators to consider.

State Elections Director Joe Kanefield agreed with Hale that the Supreme Court decision doesn't completely address the problem and said he would advise people who live in rural areas to use physical addresses instead of post office boxes.

Otherwise, he said, the voter would set himself up for a challenge and if that happens, he would lose.

Officials in both Navajo and Coconino counties said that when reservation residents fill out voter registration cards, they are required to give a description giving details on where their house is located.

The problem with that, said Hale, is that state law would require voters to use the same description in signing the petition. If they deviate in any way, the signature could be rejected.

"They could write on their voter registration slip that they live five miles east of Pine Springs but on the nominating petition, they could say they live 15 miles north of the highway. Both descriptions show where his house is located," Hale said.

The Supreme Court decision has created another problem - the use of a post office box doesn't mean that you actually live in the county where the post office box is located.

Hale said there are cases where a post office serves three or four communities and one or more of these communities may be located in a different county.

Since you have to be a resident of the county where you vote, using a post office box in another county could get not only your signature but your vote thrown out.

Hale said the solution is to allow people to use any address as long as it is in the legislative district, regardless of what county they live in.

He said he plans to address this in legislation next year.