[img_assist|nid=1570|title=Congressional candidate Mary Kim Titla|desc=Campaign photo|link=none|align=right|width=200|height=267]On Friday, the Maricopa County Superior Court will hear arguments on whether to include or expunge hundreds of signatures gathered by state Sen. Albert Hale (D-Window Rock), state Rep. Albert Tom (D-Chambers) and 2nd Legislative District House candidate Chris Deschene, on the basis that the signatories gave post office boxes for their addresses.

At a press conference outside the Capitol, 1st Congressional District candidate Mary Kim Titla was joined by Native American activists, former 3rd Congressional District candidate Annie Loyd and Arizona Democratic Party officials to denounce the challenges as discriminatory toward Native Americans, many of whom live on reservations and don't have physical addresses recognized by the U.S. Postal Service.

"Every single one of them does have a physical address," said Tupac Enrique Acosta, who is director of the Phoenix-based Tonatierra Community Development Institute. Acosta said the post office is to blame for not finding a better way to handle addresses on reservations. "These discrepancies have existed... since Arizona and New Mexico were territories," he said.

Acosta and the others claim that some counties, including Pinal and Apache, have accepted signatures with P.O. box addresses, and hope Maricopa County will do the same. Although the sprawling 2nd Legislative District stradles numerous counties in the north of the state - none of them Maricopa - the petition challenges will be heard in Maricopa County because it is where the petitions were filed.

While Sen. Hale's petition is being challenged by his Republican rival Royce Jenkins, the challenges to Rep. Tom and Deschene come from Mark Haughwout, who is running in the LD2 House Democratic primary. Maria Weeg, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party, acknowledged that defending Tom and Deschene was in effect interfering in the primary, but said the party couldn't remain on the sidelines.

"In general we do stay out of primaries," said Weeg. "This, it's a bit mean-spirited. It's like he's going after a whole culture. It's so contrary to the principles of the Democratic Party it's not something we can support."

Mark Haughwout called the idea that he was assaulting Native culture "nonsense," and asserted that his challenges "don't revolve around the post office issue."

"The county recorders already have more than enough to take [Rep. Tom] off the ballot," said Haughwout, who claims Tom's petition was rife with Republicans and people not eligible or registered to vote.

"The whole purpose of the nominating process is to meet with voters and get them to nominate you," continued Haughwout. "He just really didn't give it a sound effort."