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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-1583 Civil IN THE MATTER OF THE : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF NOMINATION PETITION : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA OF JOHN G. ALBERT, III : FOR THE OFFICE OF CONSTABLE, : BOROUGH OF CAMP HILL : 09-1583 CIVIL TERM IN RE: CHALLENGE TO NOMINATION PETITION BEFORE BAYLEY, J. OPINION AND ORDER OF COURT Bayley, J., March 20, 2009:-- This is a challenge to a nomination petition for which a hearing was conducted th March 19, 2009 on . John G. Albert, III, a resident of 7 North 29 Street, Camp Hill Borough, filed a petition for the Republican nomination as constable in the Electoral District of the Borough of Camp Hill for the 2009 Municipal Primary. The petition was signed by thirteen electors. Each elector wrote his or her house number and street number on the petition. Under the heading “City, Borough or Township,” the first elector and the last elector wrote “Camp Hill.” Electors two through twelve wrote “CH.” Albert testified that he personally circulated the petition and obtained the signatures of all thirteen electors. He further testified that when he signed the petition and had it notarized at the Board of Elections he was instructed to put a line over each “CH” and write “Camp Hill” in the column for “City, Borough or Township” for electors two through twelve, which he did. Petitioner, John Levenda, a resident of 1803 Walnut Street, Camp Hill Borough, 09-1583 CIVIL TERM challenges the nominating petition and seeks to have it set aside. He maintains that the signatures of electors two through twelve are invalid because they did not adequately fill in the column marked “City, Borough or Township.” If correct, that would leave the signatures of two valid electors whereby ten are required by the Election Code for nomination as constable. 25 P.S. Section 2872.1 (35). We cannot consider the entries of “Camp Hill” as written by John Albert under the heading “City, Borough or Township” for electors two through twelve. It is the In re elector who signs the petition who must fill in the information required. Nomination Petition Of Silcox, 674 A.2d 225 (Pa. 1996). The subject nomination petition starts: We, the undersigned, all of whom are qualified electors of Cumberland County and Camp Hill Borough (ELECTORAL DISTRICT IN WHICH THE NOMINATION OR ELECTION IS TO BE MADE) and are registered and enrolled members of the Republican Party . . . Thus, all thirteen electors who signed the nomination petition set forth that they 1 were Republican Party electors in Camp Hill Borough. The Election Code at 25 P.S. Section 2868 provides: Manner of signing nomination petitions; time of circulating Each signer of a nomination petition shall sign but one such petition for each office to be filled, and shall declare therein that he is a __________ thth 1 There addresses in order by house and street number are: 5 N. 29; 5 N. 29; 123 N. ththth 28; 123 N. 28; 119 N. 28; 2800 Laurel Ln.; 2800 Laurel Lane; 1604 Walnut; 1605 th Walnut St.; 1605 Walnut St.; 2627 Logan St.; 2900 Logan St.; 7 N. 29 St. -2- 09-1583 CIVIL TERM registered and enrolled member of the party designated in such petition . . . He shall also declare therein that he is a qualified elector of the county therein named, and in case the nomination is not to be made or candidates are not to be elected by the electors of the State at large, of the political district therein named, in which the nomination is to be made or the election is to be held. He shall add his residence, giving city, borough or township, with street and number, if any, and shall legibly print his name and add the date of signing, expressed in words or numbers: Provided, however, That if the said political district named in the petition lies wholly within any borough city, or township, or is it shall not be necessary for any signer of a coextensive with same, nomination petition to state therein theboroughof city, or township his residence . (Emphasis added.) The political district, i.e., election district, named in the subject petition lies wholly within the Borough of Camp Hill. Under those circumstances, Section 2868 of the Election Code provides that it is not necessary for the signer to state the borough of 2 his residence. Therefore, the following order is entered. __________ 2 Even if there was a requirement that each elector signing the nomination petition state In re therein the borough of his residence, we would, using the same analysis as in Creighton , 899 A.2d 1166 (Pa. Commw. 2006), aff’d 896 A.2d 583 (Pa. 2006), consider the “CH” entry under the heading “City, Borough or Township” to be adequate where the political district named in the petition is the Camp Hill Borough and each elector set forth his or her street address and “CH” after setting forth that he or she was a qualified elector of the “Camp Hill Borough.” Section 2868 of the Election Code was In re Creighton, supra. enacted to protect against fraud in the election process. The purpose of putting an address on a nominating petition is to allow citizens inclined to research to be able to find a signer’s registration card and compare the signature on Id. the petition to that on the registration card. A defect in any part of the elector’s address as presented on a nominating petition has, historically, not been considered a Id. material defect. Here, it would be clear to anyone seeking to find the registration card of electors two through twelve, that the entry, “CH,” meant that the elector’s In re residence was in Camp Hill Borough. This would be consistent with the holding in -3- 09-1583 CIVIL TERM Nader, In Re: Nomination of Flaherty 858 A.2d 1167 (Pa. 2004), and , 770 A.2d 327 (Pa. 2001). -4- 09-1583 CIVIL TERM ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this day of March, 2009, the challenge to the nomination petition of John G. Albert, III, for constable in the Electoral District of the Borough of IS DISMISSED. Camp Hill for the 2009 Municipal Primary, By the Court, Edgar B. Bayley, J. Karen M. Balaban, Esquire PO Box 821 Harrisburg, PA 17108-0821 For John Levenda John G. Albert, III, Pro se th 7 North 29 Street Camp Hill, PA 17011 :sal -5- IN THE MATTER OF THE : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF NOMINATION PETITION : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA OF JOHN G. ALBERT, III : FOR THE OFFICE OF CONSTABLE, : BOROUGH OF CAMP HILL : 09-1583 CIVIL TERM IN RE: CHALLENGE TO NOMINATION PETITION BEFORE BAYLEY, J. ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this day of March, 2009, the challenge to the nomination petition of John G. Albert, III, for constable in the Electoral District of the Borough of IS DISMISSED. Camp Hill for the 2009 Municipal Primary, By the Court, Edgar B. Bayley, J. Karen M. Balaban, Esquire PO Box 821 Harrisburg, PA 17108-0821 For John Levenda John G. Albert, III, Pro se th 7 North 29 Street Camp Hill, PA 17011 :sal