Two different courts have rejected two
Greens
Of
Pennsylvania lawsuits in as many days, essentially pulling the life-support on Carl Romanelli's campaign against Democrat
Bob Casey.
Romanelli's signature-drive to petition his way onto the ballot was so fraudulent and deceptive (nonexistent addresses, multiple signatures that appear to have been made by the same hand, and entries by John Kerry, Robert Redford, Gerald Ford, Woody Allen, Terri Schiavo, Mickey Mouse, and Jesus Christ) that his only hope to make it to the general-election was to have the minimum number of signatures lowered from its present number of over 67,000.
Yesterday the Third Circuit in Philadelphia handed down the first ruling, rejecting the claim by the Greens, Libertarians, and Constitution Party that the ballot-access law, which requires that the minor-party statewide candidates gather signatures equal to 2% of the previous cycles highest vote-getter's total, was an undue burden. Strike one.
Now, PoliticsPa is reporting that the Commonwealth Court is rejecting a novel interpretation by the Romanelli campaign, which alleges that ballot-acces law refers to a 2005 judicial-retention race, and not Casey's 2004 Treasurer's race. If the Court had agreed, they would have substantially lowered the number of signatures required, but the President Judge apparently deferred to a 1979 state Supreme Court decision noting that general elections and retention races are "distinct processes" treated differently under state elections law. Strike two.
So, what's strike three? It's coming soon, when the judicial-panel reviewing the Romanelli petition hands down its decision. The only question right now is whether Romanelli will beat Nader's two-thirds rejection rate from 2004.
Good news for Casey, as his recent drop from a double-digit lead to a single-digit lead has been attributed to Romanelli's presence, and Santorum's recent ad blitz. With Casey countering with his own ad buys and Romanelli's malfeasance getting him kicked off the ballot, the momentum should return to Casey in a few weeks.