SOUTH END- - State Senate candidate Samiyah Diaz has filed a formal objection at the State Ballot Commission to block Senator Wilkerson’s attempt to be listed in the September Democratic Primary ballot. Wilkerson initially was 37 signatures short of the 300 certified signatures required to be listed on the ballot. Wilkerson then sought a formal review at the City Election Department which resulted in additional signatures being certified, leaving her only 9 signatures short from being listed on the ballot. Wilkerson has the option to seek Superior Court order to have the remaining 9 signatures certified by judicial review. The Diaz campaign today released city election documents that show that most of Wilkerson’s newly-certified signatures were of voters who first registered after the May 2 deadline for nomination papers to be submitted. If Wilkerson does not pursue a Superior Court case to have the remaining 9 signatures certified, the Ballot Law Commission objection will be dismissed. If Wilkerson does proceed with a Superior Court challenge, Diaz’s objection will be heard as part of the lawsuit.
News of Diaz’s ballot challenge comes as Democratic staffer, Sonia Diaz, has filed papers with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to prepare her own write-in campaign for the Democratic nomination. (Copies of the voter records are attached to this press release as pdf copies).