The anti-arena coalition isn't going down without a fight.

Last Friday, City Clerk Shirley Concolino rejected STOP's petitions on the grounds that they were fundamentally flawed and did not meet state election code.

The next step in the process came today, as STOP has elected to file a lawsuit against Concolino and the city.

Nick Miller of the Sacramento News & Review reports:

STOP claims that the City Clerk rejected the petitions for political reasons along with other claims of misconduct, including losing a form that stop said it filed in June.

The decision on whether to uphold or reject Concolino's decision will now be put in front of a judge, and due to the March 7th deadline for initiatives in order to get to the June Ballot, it's likely a decision will come sooner rather than later.

In his piece (which you should read in its entirety), Miller cites a couple of election-law experts regarding STOP's chances:

This lines up with what myself and others have heard:  judges tend to give leeway to the voters, but won't forgive all mistakes if they're too egregious.  Whether that is the case this time will be up to whichever judge hears this case.