Mar 12, 2024 By Mike Jones 4 min read

Mail-in and absentee ballots will be going out to voters a little later than usual ahead of next month’s primary election after at least one statewide candidate appealed a court’s decision to remove him from contention.

William Parker, who was hoping to run in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate race, was booted from the ballot Friday after the state Commonwealth Court determined he did not have the required 2,000 signatures to run for office.

Parker filed an appeal Monday to the state Supreme Court asking it to reverse the lower court’s decision, but the process could take more than a week and will delay the final certification of primary ballots, which will then have to be printed and mailed to voters.

Two Republicans were also removed from the U.S. Senate race last week. Robinson Township resident Joseph Vodvarka was kicked off the ballot Friday due to deficiencies with his petitions, while Brandi Tomasetti entered into an agreement with her petition challengers for her removal in order to not have to pay their attorneys’ fees. Vodvarka indicated he might appeal his ruling to the Supreme Court, although he had not filed anything as of Monday afternoon.

If the ballot decisions are upheld, it would set up a contest in the November general election between Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick since both would be unopposed in the primary. But the legal process is also shortening the window for elections offices across the state to send out their ballots until they know the final list of candidates for the April 23 primary.

“If the candidates do appeal their rulings, it will delay the absentee and mail-in ballots from going out, and that’s a concern,” Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander said.

Washington County’s elections office has received 11,584 ballot requests with more applications coming in every day.

“In most cases, the state recommends that we wait as well until they certify,” Ostrander said about the list of candidates to be placed on the ballot. “Once they get certification, it will take a week before (elections offices) begin mailing ballots.”

If the appeals continue at their current pace, that would mean ballots would not go out until March 25 at the earliest, Ostrander said. She expects to inform the county’s elections board of the developments during its 9:30 a.m. meeting today to discuss the upcoming primary.

Fayette County Elections Director MaryBeth Kuznik said they’re taking a “wait and see” approach to the situation, although she isn’t overly concerned unless the legal challenges drag on.

It could be a topic of conversation when her department holds its special expo today for the public to visit the office to learn more about the election process. The two sessions will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. at the office located at 2 W. Main St. in Uniontown.

“Hopefully the supreme court will move quickly. We don’t want to leave any legitimate candidate off the ballot,” Kuznik said. “We’re all in the same boat, all of the counties together.”

That’s the view Greene County Elections Director Joe Lemley has about it, although he noted that his office has already sent out one overseas ballot due to the tight mailing and return deadlines. But for the remaining absentee and mail-in ballots, Lemley thinks voters will still have plenty of time to make their selections and return them by election day.

“It won’t be all the way up until April,” Lemley said. “But we’d like to have it done and over.”

To request a mail-in or absentee ballot for the April 23 election, contact your local elections office or go online to vote.pa.gov and click through the prompts. The deadline to register to vote or make party affiliation changes is April 8, and the final day to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot is April 16.