Shepherd obtains second ballot line

Town Board candidate Paul Shepherd’s bid for a second line on the ballot in November as the candidate of his own Local Liberty Party succeeded last week when the Suffolk County Board of Elections rejected a challenge to his nominating petition filed by the town Democratic Committee.

In a September 28 letter, the board told Mr. Shepherd that the Democratic objections to his petition “have been determined by the Board of Elections to be insufficient” and his petition “has been declared valid.”

Heather Reylek, chair of the town Democratic Committee, said by phone last week that the committee would not challenge the ruling.  As a result, Mr. Shepherd’s name will appear in two places on the ballot — the Conservative Party line and his own Local Liberty Party line.

The Democrats objected to his nominating petition on technical grounds, saying election law barred Mr. Shepherd from witnessing the signatures on a second petition in the same race. They noted he already had witnessed signatures on the petition he submitted in support of his nomination as the candidate of the county Conservative Party.

Board of Elections Deputy Commissioner William Ellis last week said in an interview that court rulings have upheld the right of a candidate to circulate and witness a second petition in a single race as long as the second petition is for the candidate himself and not another candidate. Commenting on the decision, Ms. Reylek said, “We did what we needed to do. The Republican commissioner wouldn’t sign off on” on the Democratic objections. “I don’t want to say anything else. I’m not a lawyer.”

The Board of Elections has two commissioners, Democrat Anita S. Katz and Republican Wayne T. Rogers and their staffs.