CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Franklin County ballots for Pennsylvania’s April 24 primary election are changing to reflect objections filed in court regarding candidates’ nominating paperwork.
Two county men will not appear on ballots as planned. Travis Schooley of Quincy Township, Pa., will not appear as a candidate for the Ninth District in the U.S. House of Representatives and James B. Taylor of Mercersburg, Pa., will not be listed as a candidate for the 33rd District in the Pennsylvania Senate.
Both received challenges to their nominating petitions based on not having enough valid signatures from registered voters.
On Monday, Franklin County Deputy Chief Clerk Jean Byers was awaiting official word from the Pennsylvania Department of State so she could send ballots to the printers for 101,000 copies.
“We have the ballot proofs here,” she said. “I just want to proof them against the ballot certifications because there are so many changes.”
On its website, the state department listed more than 100 objections being filed in races.
“There is talk (the number of objections) is a bit higher this year,” said Matthew Keeler, deputy press secretary for the department.
“Several of them affected Franklin County. I didn’t feel comfortable moving forward with ballot printing,” Byers said, saying statewide races in question also affect the county’s ballots.
“The last thing we wanted to do was black out names,” she said.
According to state department documents, Franklin County ballots will include:
Ninth District in U.S. House of Representatives
Bill Shuster, R, incumbent, Frankstown Township, Blair County
33rd District in Pennsylvania Senate
Richard Alloway, R, incumbent, Hamilton Township, Franklin County
89th District in Pennsylvania House of Representatives
- Rob Kauffman, R, incumbent, Greene Township, Franklin County
- Susan Spicka, D, Borough of Shippensburg, Cumberland County
90th District in Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Todd Rock, R, incumbent, Borough of Mont Alto, Franklin County
91st District in Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Dan Moul, R, incumbent, Conewago Township, Adams County
Two people challenged Schooley’s nominating petition, with a court order March 9 determining his nomination petition be set aside.
Two people challenged Taylor’s nominating petition. That matter was dismissed prior to a hearing at the parties’ request, and the state department was directed to remove Taylor as a candidate in the primary.
