10th Congressional candidate John Broadhurst remains on ballot: objection filed too late

A Democratic candidate in the 10th Congressional race will remain on the ballot after a Commonwealth Court judge dismissed a challenge, according to court records.

John Broadhurst, one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Scott Perry in the fall, faced an objection filed by a York County woman, alleging that he did not have enough valid signatures to be on the ballot.

Candidates running for Congress need at least 1,000 signatures from registered voters in the political party in which they seek the nomination to be placed on the ballot.

Broadhurst countered that the objection should be dismissed because it wasn't timely filed.

Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer, who heard arguments in the case on March 5, dismissed the objection on Friday because it did not meet the filing requirements.

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Judge dismisses objection based on an email notification

Broadhurst filed his nomination petition and candidate’s affidavit on Feb. 13. It contained 1,389 signatures, according to the court opinion.

Any objections must be filed and served within seven days.

Marta Peck's (her name was misspelled as Martha in court documents) objection to Broadhurst's petition was filed electronically at 5:54 p.m. Feb. 20 with the Commonwealth Court. A copy of it was emailed at 6:26 p.m. to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

During a hearing, it was determined that Broadhurst did not have the 1,000 valid signatures required to remain on the ballot, the opinion states.

However, the judge determined that the objection petition sent via email to the Department of State "did not constitute service on the Secretary" as required.

"If the Secretary has not agreed to service by email and has not provided an email address at which the Secretary can expect to receive service of the official notification of the filing of an objection petition, there is no guarantee that the Secretary will be aware that a filing has been served by email," the judge wrote. "This does not give effect to the Election Code’s intent for the expedient and timely resolution of such petitions."

Because the objector did not establish that the procedural steps have been properly performed, the nomination petition is considered valid, and the court cannot set it aside, the judge wrote.

Jubelirer dismissed the objection petition.

Primary set for April 23

In addition to Broadhurst, the Democrats seeking the nomination are Rick Coplen, Shamaine Daniels, Blake Lynch, Michael O’Brien, and Janelle Stelson.

A candidates forum for the 10th Congressional race, hosted by news media outlets including the York Daily Record, will be held on March 25 in Harrisburg.

The primary will be held on April 23.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: 10th Congressional candidate John Broadhurst to remain on the ballot