ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Lehigh County judge denied an appeal Tuesday by an Allentown man attempting to appear on the May primary ballot after missing the filing by a minute last week.
Judge Thomas Capehart ruled Patrick Palmer had only himself to blame for missing the March 7 deadline to get onto the Democratic ballot for the new magisterial district judge race for the Sixth and 10th wards. Palmer arrived at the Lehigh County Government Center at 3:55 p.m., leaving him little time to pass through security, pay a $50 fee on the first floor and get to the Voter Registration office in the basement.
"Palmer's fatal error was attempting to file his documents with less than five minutes remaining for processing. The untimely filing was caused by Palmer's poor planning," Capehart ruled.
- Lehigh County Judge Thomas Capehart denied an appeal by Patrick Palmer to appear on the Democratic primary ballot for an Allentown magisterial district judge race
- Palmer paid a mandatory $50 fee at the Lehigh County Government Center, but the 4 p.m. filing deadline arrived while he was traveling between offices
- The ruling means only Mark McCants will appear as a candidate on the Democratic primary ballot for the new magisterial district judge race
At the appeal hearing Monday, Palmer testified he left his home around 3:30 p.m. but was rear ended on the way there, causing a delay. Once in the building, he went to pay the mandatory filing fee and realized he was running out of time. When he asked if he could run downstairs to start that process, the clerk told him he could not leave, Palmer testified. The clerk later testified that if Palmer left, the fiscal office would be closed by the time he came back to retrieve the receipt.
Surveillance footage showed Palmer left the fiscal affairs office with his receipt at 4 p.m. A LehighValleyNews.com reporter saw Palmer try to enter the Voter Registration office at approximately 4:01 p.m., but office staff had already locked the door.
Attorney Richard Santee argued county officials were obligated to accept Palmer's paperwork and place him on the ballot. If a candidate begins the filing process in the Voter Registration office but doesn't complete it before 4 p.m., it's county policy to still accept their paperwork, Santee said. He argued the same logic should apply to Palmer's circumstance, saying the would-be candidate began the filing process when he paid the $50 fee upstairs.
But Capehart found no laws supported that argument, and Palmer presented no legal evidence to back the claim. Instead, state law and a county instruction packet inform candidates they have to pay their fee first and present the receipt with their election documents. Palmer testified he had a copy of those instructions. County staff did not cause Palmer to miss his deadline, and he was not entitled to special relief, Capehart concluded.
"We are disappointed with the result, but we respect the opportunity to be heard by the court. Mr. Palmer will be reviewing the decision and his options," Santee said.
County attorney Joshua Mazin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Capehart's decision means that only Mark McCants will appear on the Democratic primary ballot in the race for judge of Magisterial District Court 31-1-09; there is no Republican listed in the race. Magisterial district judges preside over the lowest level of court cases in Pennsylvania, which include parking tickets, traffic infractions, minor criminal matters and civil court cases that don't eclipse $12,000.
Candidates who fail to make the primary ballot can still win a party nomination through write-in campaigns, though it is unusual for them to best candidates who appear on the ballot. Third-party or independent candidates can also file to appear on the general election ballot.
Palmer has been no stranger to Allentown politics over the past four years. He challenged Ray O'Connell in the 2019 mayoral race but came in a distant third. Palmer had a better showing in the 2021 city council race but lost the final seat to incumbent Ed Zucal by 21 votes in the Democratic primary. In January 2021, Palmer was appointed to a vacancy on the Allentown School Board, where he continues to serve.
