Court will hear ballot challenge today

Democrat challenges school board president’s ballot petition at 9:30 a.m. hearing, By David Hulse MILFORD — A petition challenge to the incumbent Delaware Valley School Board president is scheduled to come before the county court on Friday morning. Judge Joseph Kameen will hear evidence on Pike Democratic Party Committeewoman Elizabeth Forrest’s challenge of Democratic Party ballot petitions submitted to the board of elections by Robert Goldsack and board candidate Patricia Wright. Forrest said Wednesday that the committee examined all the Democratic petitions filed for the May 17 primary elections. School board candidates, irregardless of their own party affiliations, typically cross-file for both party ballots. Forrest said state election law demands specific filing instructions be followed and provides specific instructions with the petition forms. She recalled the 2007 petition problems of Mark Johnson, who sought to run against incumbent Magistrate Stephen McBride. McBride challenged Johnson’s petitions and Kameen upheld the challenge Forrest said the only two current petitions found to have problems were those of Wright and Goldsack; and she said problems on those petitions were extensive. Since Goldsack is an incumbent, she said “I was extremely surprised to see his petition in such poor shape and even more surprised to see that it was accepted for filing.” The law also provides guidelines for election officials’ review of petitions and directs they be declined when presented with incomplete or inaccurate information, Forrest said. Both had similar problems. She said Goldsack left spaces blank, spaces for the party name, county, his name, business and address, as well as the year of the primary. “How did the signers know who they were supporting?” she asked. She also claimed the notarized affidavit of the petition circulator - the person who collected signatures - was signed and dated on Feb. 19, prior to dates accompanying 11 of 13 Democrats who signed the petition. Further, several of the signers’ addresses given did not match the addresses on the county’s registration rolls. Admitting some paperwork issues, Goldsack characterized the challenge as a petty attempt to disenfranchise Democrats who might support him in the primary. He said he would provide letters from the petition signers to confirm that they knew who they were supporting. He remained confident he would win re-election in any event. “The Democrats will be able to vote for me in the in the fall.”