Late to file petition, would-be candidate asks Lehigh County Court to let him on ballot

Democrat Patrick Palmer said he couldn't make deadline due to a process breakdown.

A would-be candidate for district magistrate in Allentown was in Lehigh County Court on Monday arguing in favor of having his nomination petition accepted by the Lehigh County for the May16 primary election. 

Patrick Palmer, 35, of Allentown said he arrived at the Lehigh County Government Center on time to file his petition for magisterial district judge 31-1-09, a new district that does not have an incumbent.

Palmer, an Allentown School Board member who has previously run for mayor and council, said a breakdown in the administrative process prevented from delivering his petition by the 4 p.m. deadline on March 7.

His case was heard Monday afternoon before Judge Thomas A. Capehart, who promised a quick decision.  

Palmer’s case is unusual because court cases over nomination petitions typically involve efforts to have petitions rejected because they lack valid signatures. The deadline for such challenges is today, March 14.

In Northampton County, challenges have been filed against Northampton County Council President Kerry Myers, a Democrat, by Edward Keegan and Laurie Jackson, both Democrats, according to Lehigh Valley Live. Myers is running for reelection in District 2.  

Also, in Northampton County, there are challenges against William Rowe, a Republican running for Northampton County Council in District 1, and Toni E. Lynch, who has cross-filed to run for Bangor Area School Board, Lehigh Valley Live reported.  

In the Lehigh County case, Palmer sued the Lehigh County Board of Elections and Tim Benyo, chief election clerk.  

Under the state’s election calendar for the May 16 primary, petitions had to be filed by 4 p.m. on March 7.

According to video footage documenting Palmer’s visit to the government center on March 7:

Palmer entered the lobby of the government center at 7th and Hamilton streets in Allentown at 3:55 p.m. and 1 second and finished his security screening at 3:55 p.m. and 51 seconds.

At 3:56 p.m. and 17 seconds, he entered the Office of Fiscal Affairs to pay the $50 fee for running for magistrate. 

He exited the office at 4 p.m. and 16 seconds and approached the stairwell to go downstairs to the Voter Registration Office at 4 p.m. and 28 seconds. The walk from the first floor fiscal office takes about 90 seconds.

At issue was whether the staff in the fiscal office contributed to Palmer finding the doors of the elecion office locked and whether his application would have been rejected over his other paperwork even if he had made it on time. 

Palmer testified that he would have made the deadline but said a clerk told him he couldn’t leave the fiscal office before she gave him a receipt, which is considered an official part of the petition package.  

“I asked her since I paid if I could let them know I’m here,” Palmer testified, referring to the Voter Registration Office. 

Palmer said the clerk replied, “No, you aren’t allowed to go downstairs.” 

“I had to listen to her.” said Palmer, who also testified that a person named April Riddick was in the building and was willing to get his receipt while he got in line. 

In testimony, the clerk, Theresa Kaczmarczyk, said she did not tell Palmer he couldn’t leave. “I told him if he went down … we would be gone and he wouldn’t have been able to get the receipt.”

Benyo, under questioning from attorney Joshua Mazin, who represented the county, said he would not have been able to accept the petition without the receipt as it is part of the requirement. 

Also at issue was whether Palmer’s petition would have been rejected over his financial statement of interest and candidate affidavit. 

Under the filing rules, the affidavit must be notarized. An original copy of the financial statement of interest must be filed with the county human resources office with a copy going to the Voter Registration Office. 

Palmer testified that his affidavit was not notarized when he arrived at the government center.  He said he planned to have it done at the Voter Registration Office, which offers the service for a fee. Benyo confirmed the service is provided.

Palmer said he had two original copies of his affidavit because he had originally sought to cross-file as a Republican as well but didn’t get enough signatures. He planned to include one of the originals with his petition. 

Mazin said Palmer didn’t have enough time to get an original to the Human Resources Office. Attorney Richard Santee, who represented Palmer at the hearing, countered that there is nothing in the state statue saying the affidavit must be filed by 4 p.m. on March 7.

Santee said Palmer could have mailed it or slipped it under HR’s door.

The reason Palmer didn’t arrive to the government center until nearly 4 p.m. was not part of the lawsuit.  Under questioning from Mazin, Palmer said that his morning was taken up by his grandfather, who is in hospice, and his mother, who is ill.

He said he was also working from home that day. Palmer is a community development representative with RideShare2vote. 

At 3:30, he said he took a late lunch break to head a few blocks to the government center. He had driven a few blocks when his car was struck from behind in what he called a fender bender. He said he exchanged names with the driver, deciding the damage wasn’t bad enough to call police and realizing he needed to hurry.

In asking the judge to rule in favor of Palmer, Santee argued that Palmer arrived before 4 p.m. and that his stop in the fiscal office marked the official start of the petition application office because it is where candidates must go first.

“That’s the moment he presented the petition,” Santee said. 

In defending the county, Marzin argued that Palmer’s testimony about Kaczmarczyk was not credible as she testified she did not tell him he couldn’t leave. He said Palmer missed the deadline through “his own negligence.”

After the hearing, Santee, who is solicitor for the Northampton County Election Division, said Palmer would have made the deadline in the neighboring county because the fee is paid in the same place petitions are filed.