Many Pennsylvania localities, including Philadelphia, hold partisan primaries for local office on May 19. Stephanie Singer, an elected official who wants to run for re-election, has been removed from the Democratic primary ballot because she needs 1,000 valid signatures and so far only has 996. She is hoping for a rehearing in the local court that removed her, because she has found additional signers who want to testify that their signature is valid. See this story. Thanks to Chris Jerdonek for the link.
While I believe Filing Fees should also be allowed as an option for ballot position – primary or general election – I think it is stupid to keep someone off the ballot because they are 4 signatures short. But then again, many of these high profile politicians even on the City of Philadelphia level, get a little “high headed” and just think voters will rush to them begging to sign the petitions. But then again, this candidate may not be as popular as she thinks. The article seems to imply she was running as the Republican, and the partisan-Republican robots voted for her just to keep a Democrat from winning.
Alabama Independent,
Yes, Stephanie is an incumbent, but she is not part of the establishment. Also, she is not Republican. She submitted about 1,500 signatures, and my understanding is that this was the result of her establishment challengers trying to keep her off the ballot. Here is more information about her:
http://www.philadelphiavotes.com/en/about-us/commissioner-stephanie-singer