By George P. Hassett

For the second time in a week, a Superior Court judge today denied a motion by State Rep. Carl Sciortino, D-Medford, to have his name placed on the ballot for the Sept. 16 Democratic primary. Sciortino, who says 12 nomination papers were taken from his State House office sometime this month, asked the court to reconsider Friday’s decision to keep him off the ballot and submitted 50 affidavits of residents affirming they had signed the missing papers.

After the disappearance, which Sciortino reported to the State Police, he submitted 114 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office, 36 shy of the required 150 to appear on the ballot. Today he said he is now "weighing his options to appeal."