Will a Centre County man be on the ballot for county commissioner? Judge set to decide
Whether a Centre County man aiming to become an independent candidate for county commissioner appears on the ballot during the upcoming general election is set to be decided by a judge.
Richard Rogers, of Spring Township, defended his eligibility Wednesday to appear on the ballot after three Centre County Democrats — Micaela Anne Chadwick Hayes, Paul Hallacher and Mary Bruce Serene — filed a legal challenge earlier this month.
Centre County Judge Brian Marshall did not offer a concrete timeline for when he will issue his decision, but said he planned to author his ruling “expeditiously.”
Chief among the challenges laid out in the 43-page petition that sought to invalidate Rogers’ candidacy was the amount of signatures Rogers submitted and the dates he filed the required paperwork.
Rogers did not contest Wednesday that he did not meet the requirements, but testified he complied with information he received from the county’s election office that proved to be inaccurate. Two county employees testified they gave him information they later learned to be erroneous.
Rogers — who represented himself at the hourlong hearing — testified he was told he needed 250 signatures; he submitted 284. But according to the legal challenge and the testimony of two elections office employees, the correct number was 552.
The lifelong county resident also sought to change his registration from a Democrat to an independent. Rogers previously served as a Centre County commissioner; as an incumbent in May 2011, he narrowly lost the Democratic nomination to Michael Pipe.
Rogers testified he was told the change needed to be completed by May 1 to appear on the ballot, information that also proved to be inaccurate. State law requires the change to be completed at least 30 days before the primary election in mid-May.
Rogers expressed regret more than once at having to publicly discuss errors made by the county’s elections office, telling Marshall he “ran to make the county better.”
“This was never the intent, to drag in the elections office into this mess. I apologize. That’s not my intent to do that,” Rogers said. “... However, I did rely on the information that was given to me and I did that in good faith.”
Attorney Jeffrey W. Stover argued Rogers receiving inaccurate information from the elections office is not enough to render him a valid candidate, citing rulings from Pennsylvania’s appeals courts.
“The candidate is responsible for the failure notwithstanding what information they were given by the county office,” Stover said. “... It doesn’t matter if you got bad information. You the candidate are ultimately responsible to know what the law is.”
Serene and her husband donated $50 to Marshall’s campaign when he was running for the position he now holds. The judge disclosed the donation before the hearing began and Rogers did not object to Marshall presiding.
If it’s decided he can appear on the November ballot, he’ll join Democrats Mark Higgins and Amber Concepcion and Republicans Steve Dershem and Marie Librizzi in vying for a spot on the three-member board.