Legal wrangling over whether two Pittsburgh Democrats may run in the May 16 primary will delay the delivery of mail ballots to voters, Allegheny County officials said Tuesday.

At issue is whether challenges were properly lodged against the nomination petitions of candidates Tracy Royston, one of three people vying for city controller, and Steven Oberst, the sole opponent of incumbent District 1 Councilor Bobby Wilson. The challenges were delivered to the county elections division on the last possible day, but after the office had already closed at 5 p.m.

Common Pleas Judge John McVay Jr. heard arguments last month on the challenges and ruled they were invalid. Citing a precedent set in 1990 by the state Supreme Court, the judge said the challenges needed to have been turned in by 5 p.m.

“No one at the Board of Elections office had received the challenging petition until the next day,” he wrote, “which was after the deadline for challenges had passed.”

Both rulings — in the case of Mitchell Freeman and Lisa Schwartz, who challenged Royston, as well as that of Jeffrey Dzamko and Rachael James against Oberst — were appealed Monday to Commonwealth Court. The same lawyer, Marco Attisano, represents both sets of challengers.

Deb Gross, who is running for reelection to City Council’s 7th District, had also filed what McVay ruled to be an untimely ballot challenge against Jordan Botta. As of Tuesday morning, court records showed she hadn’t appealed the ruling.

David Voye, the county’s top elections official, told the Union Progress that the appeals will push back the time that the county intended to mail ballots to voters. He added that the county will now await a decision from Commonwealth Court, for as long as it can, given state law requires that counties “shall commence” delivering mail ballots no later than May 2.

“At some point — regardless of whether a decision is made on the challenges — we will move forward with the printing and mailing of the ballots in order to meet deadlines in the Election Code,” Voye said.

Jon, a copy editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and working as a co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Reach him at jmoss@unionprogress.com.

Jon Moss

Jon, a copy editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and working as a co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Reach him at jmoss@unionprogress.com.