Third-party candidate Carl Stevenson was forced from the ballot when two Republicans charged that those circulating his nominating petitions did not reside within the 134th state House district.  Current state law dictates only that circulators must be “qualified electors,” not mentioning that those people must live within the district where the office is sought.  However Commonwealth Court ruled in favor of the Republicans, who acted on behalf of the current state Rep. Doug Reichley (R), citing that 97 of his petition signatures were illegal.  Reichley eliminated his competition when Stevenson’s name was then struck from the ballot because he did not have sufficient signatures.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania argues that in 2002, federal court found that an electorate district residency requirement for nominating petition circulators is unconstitutional, although Commonwealth Court says federal court rulings are not binding in our state.  The independent candidate will be represented in his appeal to the state Supreme Court by two ACLU attorneys.

Read “Independent Candidate Challenges Commonwealth Court on Ballot Access Ruling,” by Eric Boehm of the Pennsylvania Independent (8/31/10).