Arizona Supreme Court says candidate can be barred Tue Feb 7, 2012 5:47pm EST (Reuters) - Arizona's Supreme Court upheld a lower-court ruling on Tuesday barring a city council candidate with limited English language skills from appearing on a ballot in a largely bilingual border town. A Yuma County Superior Court judge touched off a furor last week when he disqualified Alejandrina Cabrera, 35, from running for city council in the town of San Luis over what he called a "large gap" between her English proficiency and that required to serve as a public official. In a brief two-page ruling, the court did not give a reason for its move but said a written decision would follow "in due course." The controversy has swept up San Luis, a sleepy farming town hugging the Arizona-Mexico border, into the incendiary national debate over immigration. San Luis, with a population of roughly 25,000 people, is about 200 miles southwest of Phoenix and lies just over a steel border fence from San Luis Rio Colorado, in Mexico's northern Sonora state, with a population of roughly 200,000. The San Luis City Clerk told Reuters on Tuesday that the printing of ballots was being held until the court decision was announced. Addtional reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Cynthia Johnston