A federal judge Monday denied a request by a Latino-rights group to halt the Feb. 4 recall election of Santa Ana Unified School District board member Nativo V. Lopez.
With the date only four weeks away, the ruling effectively assures a showdown at the polls to resolve the nearly yearlong effort to oust Lopez.
Recall backers accuse Lopez, a longtime activist for immigrant and Latino rights, of being a divisive force in the community and prone to race-baiting. Lopez counters that he is protecting the rights of working-class Latinos. He was first elected to the school board in 1996.
The recall organizers circulated petitions early last year to force a special election.
In December, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund sued, saying that the petitions, which were only in English, violated the voting rights of non-English-speaking citizens because they could not understand the documents and thus participate in the process.
