Nem Edited Petition to Strike (Street)

8/3/2019 Nem Edited Petition to Strike (Street)

1/10

BOWMAN KAVULICH, LTD

By: Michael A. Bowman, Esquire

PA Attorney ID: 81762Charles M. Gibbs, Esquire

PA Attorney ID: 310023

Crystal M. Lacey, EsquirePA Attorney ID: 3071341600 Market Street, 25

thFloor

Philadelphia, PA 19103215-391-4300 Attorneys For Petitioners

IN RE: NOMINATION PETITION OFTHOMAS MILTON STREET

AS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FORMAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA

Olga A. McGarity, Tiffanie Standard, andShantel French,Petitioners.

:

:

:

:

:

:

::

:

:

:

COURT OF COMMON PLEASPHILADELPHIA COUNTY

ELECTION MATTER

APRIL TERM, 2011

NO:

PETITION TO SET ASIDE NOMINATION

PETITION OF THOMAS MILTON STREET FOR THE DEMOCRATIC

NOMINATION FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

The Petitioners, Olga A. McGarity, Tiffanie Standard, and Shantel French, file this

Petition to Set Aside the Nomination Petition of Thomas Milton Street for the Office of Mayor of

the City of Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the Primary Election to be

held on May 17, 2011. Petitioners seek this relief because: (1) the nomination petition of Thomas

Milton Street contains an insufficient number of signatures of qualified electors in the City of

Philadelphia and therefore fails to comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Election

Code, and (2) Mr. Streets Candidate Affidavit falsely claims that he meets the residency

requirements to be eligible to run for the office of Mayor of the City of Philadelphia.

Accordingly, Petitioners respectfully request this Honorable Court to remove Thomas Milton

Street from the primary ballot, and in support thereof aver as follows:


2/10

2

PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. This Honorable Court has jurisdiction of this matter pursuant to 25 Pa. C.S. 2937 ofthe Pennsylvania Election Code.

2. The Petitioner, Olga A. McGarity, is a duly qualified elector and is a registeredDemocrat in the County of Philadelphia, residing at 4436 Dexter Street, Philadelphia, PA.

3. The Petitioner, Tiffanie Standard, is a duly qualified elector and is a registeredDemocrat in the County of Philadelphia, residing at 720 South 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA.

4. The Petitioner, Shantel French, is a duly qualified elector and is a registeredDemocrat in the County of Philadelphia, residing at 1224 S. 18

th

Street, Philadelphia, PA.

5. Petitioners, as registered and enrolled of the Democratic Party in the City and Countyof Philadelphia have a direct and substantial interest in the 2011 Primary Election and in the

success of this Petition. See generally, In re Barlip, 59 Pa. Commw. Ct. 178, 181, 428 A.2d 1058

(1981).

6. On or about March 8, 2011, a petition was filed with the Office of the CityCommissioners for the City of Philadelphia, purporting to nominate Thomas Milton Street

(hereinafter Street or Candidate) as a Democratic Nominee for the Office of Mayor of the

City of Philadelphia in the Democratic Primary to be held on May 17, 2011.

7. Challenges to such nomination petitions may be filed by any qualified elector under25 Pa. C.S. 2937, which governs the procedures for such challenges.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

8. To appear as a candidate on the 2011 primary election ballot, Thomas Milton Streetmust present at least 1,000 valid signatures from Democratic, registered, and enrolled electors of

the Third Council District of the City of Philadelphia. 25 Pa. C.S. 2872.1.


3/10

3

9. On or about March 11, 2011, Mr. Street filed a Nomination Petition (the NominationPetition), with the Philadelphia County Board of Elections seeking to have his name printed on

the Primary Election Ballot (the Ballot) as a Democratic Candidate for the Office Mayor of

Philadelphia.

10.The Nomination Petition consists of 66 pages, numbered haphazardly 1-66,accompanied by a Candidates Affidavit. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's official form

for Nomination Petition contains two sides and has spaces for 50 signers, and are intended to be

county-specific. The original Nomination Petition and Candidate's Affidavit remain in the

custody of Philadelphia County Board of Elections and are incorporated herein by reference.

11.The Nomination Petition purports to contain 2,408 signatures, addresses, and dates ofsigning of qualified, registered Democratic electors (the "Signers") as well as notarized

supporting affidavits of the circulators for each page of the Nomination Petition (the

"Circulators"). The petitions are attached as Exhibit A to this Petition.

THE REQUIRED PROCESS FOR STREET TO QUALIFY AS A DEMOCRATIC

CANDIDATE ON THE MAY PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT

12. Section 908 of the Election Code, 26 Pa. C.S. 2868, lists the requirements foreach signer of a Nomination Petition. Each signer must:

a. Sign but one such petition for each office to be filled;b. declare therein he is registered and enrolled member of the party designed

in such petition.

c. declare therein that he is a qualified elector of the county therein named,and in the case the nomination is not to be made or candidates are not to

be electors of the State at large, of the political district therein named, inwhich the nomination is to be made or the election is to be held;

d. Add his residence, given city, borough or township, with street andnumber, if any, and shall legibly print his name and add the date ofsigning, expressed in words or numbers. Provided, however, that if the

said political district named in the petition lies within any city, borough,


4/10

4

or township, or is coextensive with same, it shall not be necessary forany signer of the nomination petition to state therein the city, borough or

township of his residence.

13.Pursuant to 25 Pa. C.S. 2872.1(15), of the Pennsylvania Election Code, Mr. Streetwas required to file a nomination petition with at least 1,000 signatures.

14.Therefore, unless the Nomination Petition has been validly signed, in strictaccordance with the requirements of the Election Code, by 1,000 valid signatures of registered

and enrolled members of the Democratic Party in the City of Philadelphia, the name of Mr.

Street may not be printed as a candidate on the Primary Election Ballot.

THE CHALLENGE TO THE STREET NOMINATION PETITION

15.The Pennsylvania Election Code, 25 Pa C.S. 2600 et seq., (the "Election Code,"herein cited only to Purdon's Statutes), the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, and cases decided

thereunder govern the matters covered by this Petition.

16.The Election Code sets forth the procedure by which a nomination petition may be setaside. See 25 Pa. C.S. 2937.

17.Petitioners and their representatives have reviewed the Nomination Petition (attachedhereto as Exhibit A) and based upon such review, believe, and therefore aver, that the

Nomination Petition is defective, does not contain a sufficient number of genuine signatures of

registered and enrolled members of the Democratic Party in the City of Philadelphia entitled to

sign the same under the Election Code, and otherwise fails to comply with the Election Code.

18.Further Petitioners believe, and therefore aver, that Mr. Streets Candidates Affidavitis false in that it claims that Mr. Street meets the eligibility qualifications to be a candidate for

Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, which he does not.


5/10

5

The Line Challenges Of Petitioners

19.Petitioners, their counsel, and/or the volunteers who supported their efforts alsochecked the signature lines of each page of the Nomination Paper submitted herein according to

the following criteria, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth:

CODE Challenge Title Description

ILLEG Illegible Information The purported signature andprinted name of the elector appearing on this

line cannot be deciphered or associated withthe name of any registered elector at the

address of any registered elector at theaddress written on the line and/or the other

information on the line is not legible, e.g.,date of signature.

IS Incomplete Signature This challenge includes challenges to purported

signatures that varies in some respect from theregistration record, including a different registration

name, signatures that are printed or the signature orprinted name contains a nickname.

INC Incomplete Line This space for the address or date shown on this line

of the nomination petition has not been completed,or ditto marks were used.

WD Invalid Date The date affixed to this signature is after the date of

the signature of the next elector who signed thepetition, before date of the signature on the line of

the previous elector or the date is incomplete.

OD Out of District The address signed to this line is outside of theDistrict.

NRD Not Registered Dem. The signature is a registered elector who is not

enrolled in the Democratic Party.

SBA Signed by Another The signature or information appearing on this linewas written by a person other than the registered

elector.

LSBA Line Signed By Information appearing on this line was written byAnother a person other than the registered elector.


6/10

6

NR Not Registered No registered record can be located for this person.

NSA The Address of the No registration record can be located in the officialElector Cannot Be records for a registered voter located at the address

Verified provided by the person signing the petition.

CIRC Circulator Global The signature is on a petition page where the entireChallenge petition is being challenged due to petition

circulator impropriety.

NE Struck before Filing This line was struck through before the petition wasOr No Information presented for filing and cannot be counted in

On Signature Line support of the nomination or the signature was notcompleted in its entirety by the elector.

20.Each challenge as to each item entered by each Signer to the Nomination Petition iscontained in Individual Line Challenges, which are attached hereto as Exhibit B and

incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

The Global Challenge Of Petitioners

21.The Election Code requires that the Circulator affirming a Nomination Petition mustbe aware of five criteria about each individual signer: (1) the signer had full knowledge of

contents of petitions; (2) the signers address is correct; (3) the signer resides in the county on the

affidavit; (4) the signer signed the petition on the date set forth; and (5) to the best of the

Circulators knowledge and belief, the signer was a qualified elector and a member of the party

claimed on the petition. 25 Pa. C.S. 2869.

22.Upon information and belief, the circulators retained by Mr. Street ignored therequirements of the Election Code, submitted numerous false signatures and voter information,

and falsely swore to many of the circulator affidavits attached to the Nomination Petition.

23.A review of the Nomination Petition with the naked eye-which Petitioners will verifywith the presentation of live testimony including that of an handwriting expert, confirms that the


7/10

7

circulators (or unknown individuals alongside them) repeatedly created countless signatures in

sequence themselves, with full pages in the same handwriting.

24.As courts have repeatedly held, where a court finds that signatures are not genuinebecause they are in the same handwriting, the signatures will be stricken. In re Petition of

Minotti, 574 A.2d 119 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1990); In re Petition of Thompson, 516 A.2d 1278 (Pa.

Cmwlth. 1984).

25.Even when there may be doubt that the same hand penned the signatures themselves,Section 908 of the Election Code requires that each elector signing a nomination petition add

his/her place of residence and the signing date, and that this informationmu

stbe written by the

elector himself. In re Silcox, 647 A.2d 224 (Pa. 1996). As this petition and its exhibits will

reveal, on page after page, the electors signing date were clearly inked by someone other than

the elector, consistently down the columns of each page.

Unqualified Circulators

26.A Circulator identified as Louis Sparks, Jr. circulated pages 11, 15, 47, 48, and 50together containing 197 signatures. Upon information and belief, Louis Sparks, Jr. is not

registered at the address listed in the Affidavit of the Circulators. Petitioners believe and

therefore aver that the 197 signatures on pages 11, 15, 47, 48, and 50 should be stricken because

the Circulator is unqualified and the Circulator failed to witness each elector sign his or her name

to the Petition page.

27.A circulator identified as Louis McCall circulated pages 5, 7, 8, and 12 togethercontaining 200 signatures. Upon information and belief, Louis McCall is not registered at the

address listed in the Affidavit of the Circulators. Petitioners believe and therefore aver that all of

the 200 signatures on pages5, 7, 8 and 50 should be stricken because the Circulator is unqualified

and the Circulator failed to witness each elector sign his or her name to the Petition page.


8/10

8

28.A circulator identified as Anatasia Chinn circulated page19 containing 50 signatures.Upon information and belief, Anatasia Chinn is not registered at the address listed in the

Affidavit of the Circulators. Petitioners believe and therefore aver that all of the signatures on

page 19 should be stricken because the Circulator is unqualified and the Circulator failed to

witness each elector sign his or her name to the Petition page.

29.The Petitioners challenges to the signature lines identified in Exhibit B totals1,502. None of the line entries challenged here may be counted in support of the nomination.

Circulator Impropriety

30.A Circulator identified as Malik Aziz circulated Petition pages 2-3, 16-18, 23-27, 39-

30, 33-34, 39-45, 49, 51-56, 62, and 65-66. Upon information and belief, the signatures on the

aforementioned pages are forged signatures, addresses, and dates of registered electors.

Petitioners believe and therefore aver that all of the signatures on pages 2-3, 16-18, 23-27, 39-30,

33-34, 39-45, 49, 51-56, 62, and 65-66 should be stricken due to forgery and the failure of the

Circulator to witness each elector sign his or her name to the Petition.

31.The combined effect of Petitioners Global and Individual Challenges reduce thenumber of valid signatures from the originally submitted 2,408 signatures to less than 750 valid

signatures, as required by the Election Code. Without the line entries challenged on Exhibit B,

the Candidate lacks the number of signatures required to qualify for the May 2011 Primary.

32.Petitioner respectfully reserves the right to add such additional objections as areappropriate at the time of hearing.

33.The Nomination Petition should, therefore, be set aside.


9/10

9

The Challenge To The Candidates Affidavit Of Thomas Milton Street

34. Petitioners believe, and therefore aver, that Mr. Streets Candidate Affidavit isfalse, as it erroneously claims that he meets the residency requirements to qualify to for the

Office of Mayor of Philadelphia.

35.Mr. Street has not met the requirement of a mayoral candidate that he reside inPhiladelphia for three years prior to the date of the general election, as: (1) Mr. Street was

incarcerated in a Federal facility outside of Philadelphia for a period between 2008-2010; and (2)

prior to his incarceration, Mr. Streets primary residence was in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Accordingly, Mr. Street does not meet the applicable residency requirement to run as a candidate

for the Office of Mayor of Philadelphia. See In re Nomination Petition of Cooper, 643 A.2d 717

(Pa. Cmwlth. 1994); see also Commonwealth ex. rel. Caroll v. DiLibero, 2009 Pa. D. & C.

LEXIS 140 at *1. (Pa. Ct. of Common Pleas, Nov. 9, 2009); see also Phila. Home Rule Charter,

3-200.

36.Mr. Streets failure to satisfy the residency requirement likewise renders false hisCandidates Affidavit; accordingly, Petitioners request that this Court strike Mr. Streets

Nomination Petition in accordance with 25 Pa. C.S. 2870 and applicable case law. See In re

Cianfrani, 359 A.2d 383 (Pa. 1976).

WHEREFORE, the Petitioners pray that this Honorable Court enter an Order as follows:

1. Setting aside the Nomination Petition of Thomas Milton Street ;2. Declaring that Thomas Milton Street does not have the requisite valid number of

signatures as required under the Election Code to have his name placed on the Ballot as a

Candidate for the Democratic Nomination for Mayor of Philadelphia in the Primary Election to

be held on May 17, 2011;

3. Sustaining the objections of the Petitioners to the Nomination Petition; and


10/10

10

4. Directing the appropriate officers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and theCounty Board of Elections to strike and set aside the Nomination Petition of Thomas Milton

Street and further directing them not to place the name of Thomas Milton Street on the ballot as a

Candidate for the Democratic Nomination for Mayor of Philadelphia.

Respectfully Submitted,BOWMAN KAVULICH, LTD.

BY:Michael A. Bowman, Esquire

Charles M. Gibbs, EsquireCrystal M. Lacey, Esquire

Dated: March 14, 2011

Documents

Nem Edited Petition to Strike (Street)