Judge rejects 19th Suffolk candidate’s attempt to get on ballot despite being short on signatures

A judge rejected a would-be 19th Suffolk District candidate’s argument to get on the ballot despite being short on signatures saying he had “sufficient time” despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

It means a five-way race between Democrats competing for the nomination in the March 2 primary has already narrowed to four candidates.

Marc Silvestri was 15 signatures shy of the 150 required to qualify for the ballot. The Revere Democrat and director of the city’s veterans services department argued in a complaint filed with the Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday that he should be entitled to the same relief provided to candidates in the 2020 state primary that cut the number of the signatures required to get on the ballot in half.

Justice Elspeth Cypher said the changes outlined in the so-called Goldstein case last year were  “specifically limited” to the Sept. 1 primary.

“The plaintiff had sufficient time to obtain certified signatures, even considering the pandemic which has now become a part of daily life,” she wrote in her opinion.

Silvestri said he was “very surprised” by the denial. He and his team are now “weighing our options,” in an email to the Herald.

Candidates had about two weeks to collect signatures, which were due to the Secretary of the Commonwealth last week. Silvestri collected 180 signatures, but after dozens were rejected due to signature and address issues, he was down to 135 — under the 150-signature threshold.

“During the two weeks that I had to collect signatures, Massachusetts was seeing the highest daily count for positive cases since the pandemic started,” Silvestri said, noting he was “worried” he could spread or be infected “at every door.”

Democrats Valentino Capobianco of Winthrop, Alicia DelVento of Winthrop, Jeffrey Turco of Winthrop and Juan Pablo Jaramillo of Revere, will appear on the March 2 ballot.

Republican Paul Caruccio of Winthrop and unenrolled candidate Richard Fucillo of Winthrop are also running. The general special election for the seat left open by former Speaker Robert DeLeo’s resignation in December takes place on March 30.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3ppxk4b