C.A. Reuther and A.M. Diakatos v. Delaware County Bureau of Elections and C. Rossi, 172 A.3d 738

Christine Rossi won the Republican nomination for Nether Providence Township Tax Collector as a write-in in the May 17, 2017 primary; the County Bureau certified her nomination and told her to file a SOFI with the Bureau and the Township by June 30, 2017.
Rossi filed her SOFI with the County Bureau on June 30, 2017 but did not file with the Township by that date.
Objectors (Reuther and Diakatos) learned of the missing Township filing in September via a RTKL request and filed an emergency petition on September 13, 2017 to strike Rossi from the November ballot; Rossi filed the Township SOFI on September 14.
The trial court denied the petition on September 19, 2017, finding no statutory provision rendering Rossi’s late Township SOFI filing a fatal defect to her candidacy; Objectors appealed.
The Commonwealth Court considered two questions: (1) whether the petition was timely, given statutory objection windows, and (2) whether failure of a write-in candidate to file a SOFI with the local governing body is a fatal defect requiring removal from the ballot.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Timeliness of petition to challenge a write-in nominee	Objectors argued their September 13 petition was timely because no seven-day statutory deadline applies to challenges to write-in nominations.	Rossi/Bureau argued Section 977’s seven‑day limit for objections to nomination petitions should analogously apply (counting from certification/30‑day deadline).	Court held no seven‑day statutory deadline governs post‑primary challenges to write‑in nominations; petition was timely.
Whether failure to file SOFI with Township is a fatal defect for a write‑in candidate	Objectors argued Rossi’s failure to file the SOFI with the Township before the ballot is a mandatory violation that should remove her from the ballot.	Rossi/Bureau argued write‑in SOFI rules do not create a statutory “fatal defect” and any enforcement is for the Ethics Commission.	Court held SOFI filing is mandatory but the Ethics Act’s ‘‘fatal defect’’ language applies to nomination petitions, not write‑ins; Regulation 51 Pa. Code §15.3(e) requires filing within 30 days but contains no ballot‑removal sanction—enforcement falls to the State Ethics Commission; Rossi cured the defect.

In re Nomination Petition of Guzzardi, 99 A.3d 381 (Pa. 2014) (judiciary must defer to statutory election rules and not remedy by equity)
In re Nomination Petition of Bryant, 852 A.2d 1193 (Pa. 2004) (objections to nomination petitions based on SOFI violations are subject to statutory objection period)
State Ethics Commission v. Cresson, 597 A.2d 1146 (Pa. 1991) (SOFI‑based challenges to petitions fall within Section 977 deadline)
Hanaway v. Parkesburg Grp., LP, 168 A.3d 146 (Pa. 2017) (courts must not add requirements not enacted by legislature)
In re Nomination of Paulmier, 937 A.2d 364 (Pa. 2007) (timely‑filed SOFIs with defects may be amended; untimely filings are barred under §1104)
State Ethics Commission v. Landauer, 496 A.2d 862 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1985) (purpose of SOFI requirement is timely public disclosure; failure can be fatal under prior law)
Dowhower v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd., 919 A.2d 913 (Pa. 2007) (distinction between mandatory and directory provisions; failure to comply with mandatory statute can render proceedings void)