The New Mexico Supreme Court will hear arguments next Wednesday in the case of Horacio Favela, who was elected Sunland Park municipal court judge just days after being charged with the fourth-degree felony of false voting, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

The high court will hear arguments at 9 a.m. on two petitions from the state Judicial Standards Commission concerning the case -- including one asking that Favela's election be invalidated and another petition that was sealed by the court, the Sun-News said.

The Supreme Court typically seals petitions that call for immediate, temporary suspensions, according to the paper.

Favela won the municipal judgeship on March 4 by 180 votes, after he was charged in Dona Ana County Magistrate Court on Feb. 29 on a single count of false voting, to which he pleaded not guilty, the Sun-News said.

According to a criminal complaint, Favela allegedly voted twice -- in both Dona Ana County and in Texas' El Paso County -- by absentee ballot in the 2004 general election, the paper reported.

The complaint also alleged that Favela does not live in Sunland Park but resides in El Paso, making him ineligible for serving in the Sunland Park post, the Sun-News said.

Favela has been sworn in as Sunland Park's municipal judge, but has yet to take the bench, the paper said. 

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