Under What Circumstances Are Candidates Allowed to Amend Their Nomination Petitions ?

In In re Castellani, 102 Pa. Commw. 170, 516 A.2d 786 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986)(single-judge opinion by Craig, J.), a candidate submitted nomination petitions as the Republican candidate for the 20th Senatorial District, while the signatures collected were all from electors in the 22nd Senatorial District, the office for which the candidate actually intended to run. Judge Craig accepted affidavits from the circulators explaining that the signers understood or appeared to understand that they were signing petitions for the 22nd Senatorial District. Judge Craig, accordingly, allowed the candidate to amend all of his petitions to correctly reflect that he was a candidate for the 22nd Senatorial District. Similarly, in In re Nomination Petition of Snyder, 102 Pa. Commw. 165, 516 A.2d 788 (Pa. Cmwlth.)(single-judge opinion by Craig, J.), petition for allowance of appeal denied sub nom. Snyder v. Wilson, 518 Pa. 52, 540 A.2d 264 (1988), allowed amendment of one page of the petition that lacked the designation of the office, after testimony of the circulator that he had personally informed the signers of the correct district.