by Courtney H. Naliboff

The state commission in charge of elections overruled objections June 10 to the nomination papers of a candidate for state representative for the 34th Middlesex district.

Representative Vincent P. Ciampa, who currently holds the seat and is running for re-election, challenged the papers of his opponent, Carl M. Sciortino Jr., before the Ballot Law Commission in May.

Ciampa said five of the nomination papers filed by Sciortino were altered after submission to the Medford City Clerk’s office.

Ciampa said Sciortino’s middle initial and the suffix “Jr.” were added by hand to the nomination papers.

The Ballot Law Commission is an appointed five-member body that reviews the validity of nomination papers in Massachusetts elections.

The commission can invalidate signatures on nomination papers that do not conform to commission guidelines.

Sciortino filed 169 signatures, 19 more than necessary to have his name printed on the September primary ballot.

Had the five nomination papers been invalidated, Sciortino would have lost 22 signatures and his name would not have been printed on the ballot.

The commission has ruled in previous cases that differences between the way a candidate’s name appears on nomination papers at the time of circulation and the form of the name as registered are not fatal to that candidate’s appearance on a ballot, according to the decision.

The commission cited a June 21, 1988, ruling that did not invalidate nomination papers when the candidate printed his name as “McCormack,” but registered as “MacCormack.”

In its decision, the commission ruled that the addition of the initial and suffix did not materially affect the nomination papers or signatures, and said that exceedingly technical arguments should not render a candidate’s nomination papers invalid.

The decision said that Sciortino is the only registered voter in his district with the name Carl M. Sciortino Jr., and there are no registered voters in the 34th Middlesex District with the name Carl Sciortino.

In nomination paper objection cases, the burden of proof is placed on the objector.

The commission said Ciampa failed to offer any evidence that Sciortino intended to mislead any voters.

Brian McNiff, a member of the Ballot Law Commission, said objections occur often.

“It’s something that certainly can happen any time there’s an election,” said McNiff. “With a state election, usually there’s a challenge to somebody’s papers. Conceivably there could be none, but it’s by no means unusual.”

To verify nomination papers, the papers are first submitted to the city clerk in the district for which the candidate is running.

“The first process of verifying is the Board of Registrar of Voters,” said Edward Finn, Medford’s city clerk.

After the clerk is satisfied that all the signatories are registered voters in the district, he certifies the papers and returns them to the candidate.

“His job is to take whatever he has after certification and bring it to the Secretary of State’s office,” said Finn.

Any objections occur at the state level, after the nomination papers have been submitted, he said.

Ciampa said Sciortino appeared as “Carl Sciortino” on the five nomination papers submitted to the Medford City Clerk’s office, even though he is registered in Somerville as “Carl M. Sciortino Jr.”

Ciampa said when he examined the papers at City Hall he found the “M.” and the “Jr.” squeezed into Sciortino’s name on the papers.

The Medford City Clerk’s office photocopied the papers when they were submitted, said Ciampa, and he was able to compare the two submissions.

“It’s common practice to examine candidate’s nomination papers,” said Ciampa. “I feel it’s the responsibility of a candidate to follow the letter of the law.”

Ciampa is serving his eighth term as state representative and said he has never had objections brought against his nomination papers.

The law maintains the candidate’s name as registered must appear on nomination papers, said Ciampa.

Ciampa objected to both the appearance of Sciortino’s name and the fact that it was changed on the nomination papers following certification at Medford City Hall.

“He altered and changed an official document after it left Medford City Hall and was certified,” said Ciampa. “It clearly says there’s a criminal penalty for altering the document,” he said.

“The Ballot Law Commission allowed his name, surprising though it may seem,” said Ciampa.

Ciampa originally intended to object over several signatures on Sciortino’s nomination papers that he said had questionable handwriting.

“Beside the signatures were printed names so election offices would have no problem reading the names,” he said.

“Usually once the signature appears, you don’t tamper with that area,” said Ciampa.

Ciampa said the questionable signatures were checked against the addresses and they seemed to be fine.

“The big discovery was that the grey box area had been altered and changed,” said Ciampa.

Ciampa said Rebecca Berry, Sciortino’s campaign manager, issued a sworn statement saying she changed Sciortino’s name with his consent.

“It was my understanding that the middle initial and “Jr.” were necessary, so I told Carl to add them,” said Berry, “It turns out they were optional.”

Ciampa also said when he inspected the nomination papers he found Sciortino had not signed the papers.

“It’s strange that he didn’t sign his own papers. There’s a law that you have to sign these—it’s a responsibility to the voter,” said the state representative.

Berry said Sciortino did sign his nomination papers.

“The challenge was basically frivolous, and the elections commission clearly stated that we did nothing wrong,” said Sciortino.

This marks Sciortino’s first bid for public office. He said his campaign is focused on issues facing the Somerville and Medford communities.

“I decided to run for office because I believe that we need to change direction on Beacon Hill,” said Sciortino.

“There are a lot of important issues facing families in Somerville and Medford – funding for our schools, access to health care and local aid, just to name a few – that the state could improve upon,” he said.

Sciortino said he advocates equal marriage rights, green line extension, clean elections and the development of renewable resources.