Apr 17, 2015 2 min read

Jesse White’s name will appear on the Republican ballot in the Cecil area magisterial race in the May primary after a Commonwealth Court panel Friday upheld his appeal of a lower court ruling that found he did not have enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions.

Washington County Director of Elections Larry Spahr said he received notification Friday afternoon White’s name should be restored to the Republican ballot.

White, a former state legislator who is running against Deputy District Attorney Traci McDonald-Kemp and former Cecil police officer Mike Philips for the vacant district judge position, had cross-filed and his name had remained on the Democratic ballot.

“It’s unfortunate we had to go through this process, which was kind of a waste of judicial resources,” White said. “Now I’m just going to focus on doing what we have to do to win this election.”

Attorney David Montgomery, who represented several Cecil Township residents who challenged White’s petitions, could not immediately be reached for comment on whether any further appeal was planned.

Sharon and Alan DePaoli of North DePaoli Road, Jason Capps of Morganza Road and Roslyn Corton of Farm Valley Road challenged the validity of more than 20 signatures on White’s petitions. Visiting Senior Judge John Reed of Mercer County held a hearing March 23, removing 15 signatures for various reasons, leaving White below the threshold of 100 needed to appear on the ballot.

However, in a 22-page opinion, Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer went over each signature and reinstated five, giving White exactly 100 valid signatures. Among the restored signatures were two in which the signers listed incorrect house numbers, but then signed affidavits vouching for their authenticity. Also restored was the signature of a resident who signed the petitions of two candidates the same day, because it could not be determined which was signed first; a person who had recently moved but not yet updated registration information, and a person who signed using a first name initial.

“The longstanding and overriding policy in our commonwealth is to protect the elective franchise,” the opinion states.