Election Law: petition names must be exact match

Candidate off ballot for not using full name
Friday, March 23, 2007
By Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Right after striking William W. Brown III from the Republican primary ballot because he didn't include a middle initial and a Roman numeral after his name, Judge Joseph James told the South Fayette man not to give up, to try next time.

"You know what, your honor? I seriously doubt that it's worth it," Mr. Brown said yesterday. "It's just a local election, for God's sakes. I don't know why anybody would go to the trouble."

The trouble Mr. Brown went to consisted of two days missing work so he could wait through a record series of hearings in which candidates and their proxies attempted to bump potential rivals off the ballot on a range of technicalities. In some cases, signatures on the petitions turned out to be questionable. In other cases, ethics forms weren't filed on time.

In the case of William Brown, it was that two people by the same name live in his home. There's William W. Brown III, who wanted to run for township commissioner in South Fayette, and his son, William W. Brown IV, who is a student at Penn State.

Neighbors came over in February, and the requisite 10 signed the candidate's petition, including the candidate himself.

But election law states that names on a candidacy petition must be an exact match with the name on the voter registration list. On that list, he's William W. Brown III. On the petition, including the spot where he signed as one of the 10 needed signatures, he was William Brown...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07082/771862-178.stm

Judge boots 2 council challengers off ballot
By Justin Vellucci
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Democrats vying to unseat two Pittsburgh City Council members went to court Wednesday to thin a crowded field of challengers in the May primary...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_498979.html

Peduto drops uphill fight in mayor's race
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The race for Pittsburgh mayor was Luke Ravenstahl's to lose. Now he probably can't.
His lone challenger in the May 15 Democratic primary, City Councilman Bill Peduto, dropped out of the race Wednesday, disappointing supporters who wanted him to maintain a desperate fight against a popular and better-financed opponent.

Peduto, 42, of Point Breeze, said he simply didn't have the stomach for a dirty campaign, even though some recent Ravenstahl gaffes gave him an opening...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_498883.html