In re Nomination Petition of Vodvarka

140 A.3d 639, 636 Pa. 16, 2016 WL 2746885, 2016 Pa. LEXIS 1323
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 19, 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 140 A.3d 639 (In re Nomination Petition of Vodvarka) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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In re Nomination Petition of Vodvarka, 140 A.3d 639, 636 Pa. 16, 2016 WL 2746885, 2016 Pa. LEXIS 1323 (Pa. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Justice DONOHUE.

Joseph Vodvarka (“Candidate”) appeals from the divided en banc decision of the Commonwealth Court, which set aside his nomination petition as a candidate of the Democratic Party for the United States Senate in the primary election held on April 26, 2016. By order dated April 19, 2016, we reversed the decision of the Commonwealth Court and ordered that the Candidate be placed on the election ballot. For the reasons set forth herein, we conclude that the signature of a registered voter whose name appears in the SURE1 registry may not be stricken from a nominating petition solely because the address set forth on the nominating petition is different from the address at which the signer is currently registered to vote.

The facts in this case are not disputed. On February 16, 2016, Candidate filed a nominating petition, containing 2744 signatures, to be a candidate for the nomination of the Democratic Party for the office of United States Senator. On February 23, 2016, Joseph A. Sestak (“Objector”) filed a timely petition to set aside the nominating petition, alleging that the nominating petition did not contain at least 2000 valid signatures of registered Pennsylvania Democrats as required by 25 P.S. § 2872.1(2), The Commonwealth Court ordered representatives of the parties to meet at the Lancaster County Board of Elections to review the signatures on the nominating petition. On March 11, 2016, the parties struck certain signatures by agreement, leaving 2186 signatures remaining. The parties then entered into a stipulation, agreeing that 461 signatures contained a name and signature matching that of a person registered to vote in the county, but the address on the nominating petition did not match the address of record in the Commonwealth’s SURE registry for the individual of that name.2 The parties further stipulated that whether these 461 signatures should be struck presents a “common and singular question of law” determinative of Objector’s challenge.3

Before the Commonwealth Court, Objector contended that the 461 signatures in question must be stricken pursuant to this Court’s 2001 decision in In re Nomination Petition of Flaherty, 564 Pa. 671, 770 A,2d 327 (2001), and its progeny, including In re Nomination Papers of Nader, 580 Pa. 22, 858 A.2d 1167 (2004), In re Nomination Petition of Gales, 618 Pa. 93, 54 A.3d 855 (2012), and In re Lunny, 615 Pa. 460, 44 [641]*641A.3d 1 (2012) (per curiam), rev’g In re Nomination Petition of Lunny, 170 M.D. 2012 (Pa.Commw., April 5, 2012) (unpublished memorandum). In Flaherty, this Court, relying on a prior analysis of Pennsylvania’s statutory registration requirements in In re Nomination Petition of Wesley, 536 Pa. 609, 640 A.2d 1247 (1994), held that “absent extraordinary circumstances,” a signature on a nominating petition must be stricken if the address accompanying the signature does not match the address at which the' elector is currently registered, unless at the time of signing, a removal notice had been filed notifying election officials of the change of address. Flaherty, 770 A.2d at 333.

The Commonwealth Court first reviewed this Court’s decisions in Flaherty, Nader, Gales and Lunny, concluding that “it is for ' our Supreme Court to overrule that line of cases.” In re Nomination Petition of Vodvarka, 135 A.3d 246, 261 (Pa. Commw.2016) (hereinafter, “Vodvarka II”). The Commonwealth Court also reviewed its own more recent decisions on this issue, including a 2010 case involving the same two parties involved in the present appeal. See In re Nomination Petition of Vodvarka, 994 A.2d 25 (Pa. Commw.2010) (“Vodvarka I”). Citing to this Court’s “continued , adherence to Flaherty, including in Nader, Gales and Lun-ny,” . the Commonwealth Court decided that it had to strike the 461 signatures identified in the parties’ stipulation and rule in favor of Objector.

Until the Supreme Court [overrules Flaherty and Nader,] we will continue to apply those cases as [this court] did in [Vodvarka I ] and the many cases applying [Vodvarka I], As such,-we reiterate the presumption that a signature on a nomination petition is valid, and an objector has the burden of proving defects in a nomination petition; An objector may prove a defect by showing that an individual’s address on the petition does not match the address in the voter registration records. At that point, the burden shifts to the candidate to produce evidence to show why the signature should not be stricken — i,e., that extraordinary-circumstances existed.

Vodvarka II, 135 A.3d 246, 261-62-.

Herein, we address the “common and singular question of law” framed by the parties in their stipulation. This Court may only reverse a Commonwealth Court’s order concerning the validity of challenges to a nomination’petition if the Commonwealth Court’s findings of fact are not supported by substantial evidence in the record, there was an abuse of discretion, or there was an error of law. See In re Nomination Petition of Driscoll, 577 Pa. 501, 847 A.2d 44, 49 (2004). We must be mindful of the established public policy in this Commonwealth to protect the elective franchise, and thus, the Pennsylvania Election Code 4 must “be liberally construed to protect a candidate’s right to run for office and. the voters’ right to elect the candidate of their choice.” Weiskerger Appeal, 447 Pa. 418, 290 A.2d 108, 109 (1972). Nomination petitions' are presumed to be valid and an objector has the burden of proving that a nomination petition is invalid. Driscoll, 847 A.2d at 49. The placement of this burden on an objector recognizes that there is a presumption that the signatures on a petition are valid. In re Creighton, 899 A.2d 1166, 1168 (Pa.Commw.), aff'd per curiam, 586 Pa. 652, 896 A.2d 583 (2006).

Section 2868 of the Election Code, which governs the collection of signatures on a nomination petition,5 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

[642]*642§ 2868. Manner of signing nomination petitions; time of circulating

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140 A.3d 639, 636 Pa. 16, 2016 WL 2746885, 2016 Pa. LEXIS 1323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-nomination-petition-of-vodvarka-pa-2016.