PENN LIVE Editorial: The Declaration of Rights in Pennsylvania’s constitution says that “Elections shall be free and equal.” In this month’s primary, it looks as if the state will fall short of that requirement, thanks to the last-minute court decision that bounced Gov. Corbett’s challenger Bob Guzzardi from the Republican primary ballot. Voters in different counties are going to see different ballots – and the votes cast in the Republican governor’s primary may well be counted differently.
In some counties, election officials scrambled and made sure Guzzardi’s name physically came off the ballot. In others, the election directors didn’t have enough time to reprogram machines or order new ballots, so his name will still be listed…
It’s unfortunate that Pennsylvania’s election laws don’t tolerate even the most innocuous of mistakes by would-be candidates, like the one Guzzardi made. (He failed to file his financial disclosure with the state ethics commission in addition to the elections office.) Those laws have spawned an industry devoted to using any possible technicality, such as omitting your middle initial on a nominating petition signature, to knock opponents off the ballot… (more)
