Mar 19, 2013 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – A complaint filed Tuesday with the Greene County Court claims nomination petitions filed by incumbent Monongahela Township supervisor James Rumble fail to include the required number of valid signatures.

Rumble, seeking re-election, filed nomination petitions with the Greene County Office of Election and Voter Registration seeking the Democratic nomination for supervisor.

The complaint challenging his petitions was filed by five township residents, including Mike Rudolph Sr., who is also a Democratic candidate for supervisor. Others who signed the complaint are Marjorie Rudolph, Larry and Tina Rogerson and Trudi Monahan.

The residents claim five of the 14 signatures on Rumble’s petitions are invalid, leaving Rumble one signature short of the required number of signatures needed for the office.

A candidate for township supervisor must have at least 10 valid signatures from voters registered with the same party for which the candidate is seeking the nomination

In their complaint, the residents claim one person who signed Rumble’s petition, Susan G. Malone, is not a registered voter; and another, Jerry Shiflett, is not a registered Democrat.

Three others who signed the petition, George Gaynor, JoAnn Rumble and Jerome Dorsey, had signed the petition of the third candidate for the office, Gary Cline, before they signed James Rumble’s petition, the residents claim.

A person who signs a candidate’s nomination petition is only permitted to sign as many petitions for an office as he will be able to vote for on the ballot, said Tina Kiger, elections office director.

In Monongahela Township, voters will elect one supervisor this year; therefore, a person can only sign the petition for one candidate for supervisor, she said.

If the five signatures in question are determined to be invalid by the court, Rumble would have only nine valid signatures, not enough for his name to be placed on the ballot.

Copies of both Rumble’s and Cline’s petitions were presented with the complaint. Cline’s petition also had 14 signatures. Kiger said it would be up to the court to determine whether the signatures of the three people who signed both petitions would be valid for the candidates. The loss of three signatures, however, would not effect Cline’s candidacy.

None of the people who signed the complaint could be reached Tuesday for comment. Reached Tuesday afternoon, Rumble said he knew nothing of the challenge and declined comment.

A hearing on the complaint has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Friday before Judge William Nalitz.