Russ Diamond, PACleanSweep founder and former Independent gubernatorial hopeful, lashed out at Pennsylvania Democrat Party Chairman T.J. Rooney for presumptive statements and continued attacks through press releases regarding the Carl Romanelli petition fiasco.

“As Santorum and Romanelli continue to waste time and resources on a bogus attempt refute to our challenge, it is clear that this entire charade was nothing more than an attempt to steal votes from Bob Casey,” Rooney was quoted as saying in an August 15 release.

“The only thing bogus here is T.J.’s notion that Bob Casey owns any votes other than his own,” said Diamond. “Casey owns exactly one vote. Santorum and Romanelli each own one vote. All the rest are up for grabs and as such, cannot be stolen.

“Perhaps if T.J. and his pals in the legislature would poke their heads out of the ivory tower once in a while and fix the sham that is Pennsylvania’s electoral process, he wouldn’t be in this predicament at all. T.J. swore an oath to support the PA Constitution, which calls for elections to be free and equal, yet he’s done nothing to make that happen.”

Casey (D) and Santorum (R) were required to gather only 2,000 signatures for ballot access, while the Commonwealth maintains that Romanelli (G) and others needed 67,070. Romanelli turned in over 94,000 signatures and the Democrats have challenged their legitimacy.

Romanelli’s attorney, Lawrence Otter, yesterday filed a motion for emergency relief in Commonwealth Court arguing that the Department of State erred in basing Romanelli’s requirement on Bob Casey’s State Treasurer race victory in 2004. According to the motion, the figure should have been based on Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman’s narrow retention in 2005.

The Court is being requested to lower the requirement accordingly to 15,949 signatures, which could render the Democrats’ challenge to Romanelli’s petitions null and void.

“If T.J. wants to jump up and down and scream about fraud that’s his choice, but his complaints would carry a bit more weight if he had ever lifted a finger in the legislature to eliminate the biggest fraud of all - Pennsylvania’s draconian ballot access rules. It’s the system itself that brings about these legal battles.

“T.J. made his bed with his continued refusal to repair the broken and unconstitutional system, and now he needs to lie in it. I’m sure he’d have a completely different opinion if the Democrats were helping a Constitution or Libertarian Party candidate get on the ballot,” Diamond concluded.

Motion filed in Commonwealth Court

Legal Memo filed in Commonwealth Court

PACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort dedicated to defeating incumbent elected officials in Pennsylvania and replacing them with true public servants. For more information, please visit www.PACleanSweep.com.