State Board of Elections invalidates three independent nominating petitions

Peter Kaczynski opened the State Board of Elections meeting on June 5 and asked staff to present three independent nominating petitions the staff had deemed facially invalid.

Staff described the board's prima facie review and the calculation used to estimate potential signatures. A staff speaker said the People's Party petition for Will Staton (22nd Congressional District) showed a maximum potential of 3,400 signatures based on 170 pages with up to 20 possible signatures per page, while the statutory requirement for that office is 3,500. The same presenter said a gubernatorial petition for Larry Sharp and running mate Shannon Joy Bones showed a maximum potential of 1,615 signatures (323 pages at 5 max signatures per page) against a 45,000 statewide requirement. Another filing received after the filing period listed no candidate names, bore only one signature, omitted the required distribution schedule across congressional districts and had no acceptances filed.

The board chair moved to accept the staff report and recommendations. After a motion and second, the board voted in favor; the chair declared the motion carried unanimously and stated that all three petitions were invalidated. The meeting adjourned with no further business.

"The maximum number of potential signatures that they could have had was 3,400, and the requirement is a minimum of 3,500," a presenter said while describing the prima facie calculation. The staff also noted, "It did not include a distribution schedule for statewide petitions," in explaining why the late statewide filing was invalid on its face.