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The Arizona Constitution, Article 7 section 12, charges the Legislature with the duty to “maintain the purity of elections.” Arizona case law has held that attempting to place a “diversionary candidate” on the ballot is illegal. A “diversionary candidate” is one who is in the race solely to divert votes from a particular candidate so as to give an advantage to another candidate. The recent lawsuit to have Olivia Cortes removed from the race was filed to honor the rule of law.

From Phoenix to Pima County, politicians and public-sector unions routinely agree to put union representatives on the government payroll, paying them millions of taxpayer dollars exclusively for union work, renewing these agreements year after year.

After the latest round of attacks and counter attacks by Republican and Democrat party leaders over the alleged unfairness of the draft congressional district map proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission, I went back to read the actual requirements for redistricting in the Arizona Constitution.

It’s not because the lawsuit was politically motivated. Everyone knows how unapologetically brutal politics can be. And it’s not because the lawsuit was brought to defame Ms. Cortes, either. Placing your name on a ballot is the functional equivalent of sending the world an open invitation to attack your character.

The operative assumption of most observers of the Russell Pearce recall election has been that Pearce is the odds-on favorite to retain his seat. He hails from a heavily Mormon, conservative, Republican district and has, after all, regularly won elections handily.

For the past four months, the Independent Redistricting Commission has worked to balance the wants, needs and desires of the residents of Arizona. The problem is that Pinal County — Arizona’s fastest growing county — is being used as the bargaining chip to satisfy other constituencies.

Arizona’s fiscal 2011, which ended June 30, was expected to end with a $332 million shortfall. As it happens, the shortfall was instead around $30 million, mainly due to a big uptick in corporate income tax collections.

It’s been a quiet summer at the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, punctuated by some predictable partisan posturing. But now we are seeing the early outlines of maps, even before the draft maps are released. The commission is in the stage of the process where it is considering “what if” ideas about what the first draft maps will look like.

Those on the frontlines know them as one of the most dangerous drugs, and one of the most misleading terms. Bath salts: they are no day at the spa. They are a new synthetic drug, destroying lives and ripping apart families across the country.

America and Arizona are living in a new economic reality that has been shrouded in negativity. Yet dig a little beneath the headlines, and there is something incredibly innovative happening in the world of wireless communications that can transform our society.