Election Board of Lehigh County
610) 782-3194

Instructions to Candidates and Circulators of Nomination Petitions

• First day to circulate and file petitions - February 17, 2009
• Last day to circulate and file petitions - March 10, 2009
• Last day to file objections to petition - March 17, 2009
• Casting of lots for ballot position - March 18, 2009
• Last day for candidates who filed petitions to withdraw -March 25, 2009
• Last day to register to vote before the Primary -April 20, 2009
• Primary Election - May 19, 2009
• Municipal Election - November 3, 2009

1. The petitions have been revised for 2009. If you obtained your petition from any source other than the Voter Registration Office, be sure that you have the 2007, 2008 or 2009 version. Any other version will NOT be accepted.
2. Candidates for county and local public office must file the Statement of Financial Interests with the governing authority of the political subdivision in which he/she is a candidate on or before the last day for filing a petition to appear on the ballot for election. The yellow copy of the Statement must be attached to the petition to appear on the ballot. State-level public office candidates file with the commission and a copy attached to petition. Excluded are Judges (currently in office), District Justices (currently in office), Judges of Election, Magisterial District Judges (currently in office.
3. ***Do not use ditto marks*** anywhere on any petition.
4. The Election Board of Lehigh County urges each candidate to file his/her nomination petition personally in order to obtain the proper forms for filing the necessary expense account reports.
5. Each signer may sign petitions for as many candidates for each office as he/she is permitted to vote for, and no more.
6. No nomination petition requiring a filing fee will be accepted for filing unless it is accompanied by a filing fee receipt received from the County Fiscal officer. These fees must be paid by cash, certified check, or money order, payable to the county of Lehigh, in the office of the Fiscal Department, Room 119, on the first floor of the Lehigh County Government Center, before filing your petition in the Voter Registration Office.
7. Petitions for County, City, Township and Borough and local Party offices are to be filed with the Lehigh County Election Board, in the office of Voter Registration, located on the ground floor of the Lehigh county government Center, 17 S. Seventh St., Allentown, on or before 4:00 pm on March 10, 2009.
8. Petitions for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and state-wide offices are to be filed with the Bureau of Elections, Department of State, located in Room 305, North Office Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, by the close of business on March 10, 2009.

   NOTE: Filing fees, once paid, will not be refunded in the event of the withdrawal of a candidate, or for any other reason whatsoever.

9. Type or clearly print the name of the candidate on the face of the petition exactly as you wish it to appear on the official ballot. Avoid the use of nicknames in the name of a candidate. If a married woman is proposed as a candidate, her first name should be used on the petition; e.g., Mary Jones and not Mrs. John Jones.
10. Make certain that each SIGNER of a petition is a registered and enrolled member of the party referred to in the petition.
11. Each signer must personally insert the information concerning residence, occupation and date of signing. Each signer should list his/her address exactly as it appears on his/her registration affidavit. In the case of those electors having a rural route number or R.D. number, the post office and the township should be listed. The date of signing may be expressed in words or numbers; e.g., March 10, 2009 or 3/10/09. Given name of a married woman must be used by signer; e.g., Mary Jones, not Mrs. John Jones.
12. Be sure the proper office title and term of office are set forth in your petition.
13. Different petitions must be used for signers who reside in different counties; e.g., Bethlehem City Offices and Bethlehem Area School District, Catasauqua Area School District and Northern Lehigh School District.
    
    Petitions may consist of several sheets. If more than one sheet is used and are intended to be constituted as one petition, they shall be bound together when offered for filing, and each sheet shall be numbered consecutively, beginning with number one (1), at the foot of each page. If petitions are copied, the affidavits MUST be copied on the back of each sheet. The candidate's affidavit must be executed on only one of these sheets, however, the circulator's affidavit must be executed on all sheets, where ever it appears, whether on a single sheet petition or on a multiple sheet petition. All affidavits must be notarized AFTER all the signatures are obtained.
14. Candidates for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, District Justice and School Director are permitted to cross-file. Separate petitions must be filed for each Party if the candidate is cross-filing. The affidavit of circulator must be executed on each petition. For the office of School Director, the circulator must be an enrolled member of the same party referred to in the petition. However, the circulator does not have to be an enrolled member of the same party referred to in the petitions for Judge of the Court of common Pleas and Magisterial District Judge.
15. Candidates should file petitions as early as possible, and at least several days before the last date fixed for filing, so that the petitions can be examined, and if corrections, additions or alterations are found necessary, there may be time to make the required changes.

SPECIAL ATTENTION:

Drawing lots for position on the ballot for all candidates will be held March 18, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. in the Public Hearing Room on the first floor of the Lehigh County Government Center.

EXPENSE ACCOUNT REPORTING LAW

Candidates at the local level who do not operate with the assistance of a committee and who do not intend to receive or expend more than $250 in a reporting period may complete the affidavit on the petition which will alleviate the necessity of filing pre and post election reports. Candidates exceeding $250 in receipts or expenditures in a reporting period or who operate with the assistance of a committee will be required to file pre and post election reports.

Postmarks will be acceptable as proof of timely filing of campaign expense information where information is postmarked no later than the day prior to the filing deadline. (See filing deadlines on calendar)

PLEASE NOTE - Filing fees for petitions filed with the Election Board of Lehigh County must be paid by cash, certified check, or money order, payable to the County of Lehigh, in the office of The Fiscal Department, on the first floor of the Lehigh County Government Center.