Judge Orders Arizona Candidate Struck From Ballot (for lacking English proficiency) [View all]

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Lawyers for Alejandrina Cabrera, a candidate for the City Council in the border community of San Luis, Ariz., said Thursday that they might appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court a lower-court ruling that Ms. Cabrera be removed from the ballot because she did not speak English proficiently.

Judge John Nelson of the Yuma County Superior Court ruled late Wednesday night that Ms. Cabrera be struck from the ballot because she did not know enough English to do the job. In removing Ms. Cabrera, Judge Nelson agreed with the recommendation of a linguist who had conducted tests of Ms. Cabrera and found her English skills lacking.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/us/judge-orders-arizona-candidate-struck-from-ballot-over-english-skills.html

Although the US Constitution doesn't require knowledge of English as qualification to hold public office, in 1997, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona: "Federal courts lack competence to rule definitively on the meaning of state legislation...nor may they adjudicate challenges to state measures absent a showing of actual impact on the challenger," regarding the Arizona Constitution recognizing English as the official language for government operations. However, in 1999, the Arizona Supreme Court later found a law requiring gov't employees to speak English unconstitutional, and the SCOTUS declined an appeal by AFOE.

IN 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 103 to make English the official language of the state.