Two Council Candidates Miss Petition Deadline, Count For Mayoral Hopefuls Continues

As elections officials continue the signature counting process to determine Democratic challengers for the September 16 primary, two would-be candidates for City Council, Leticia Colon and Ty Bird, will not be among them. They walked in with their petition sheets after Wednesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. As a result they will not be on the ballot.

“Primary petitions for opposition candidates of a major party for municipal offices must be submitted to respective registrars by 4:00 p.m. of this day (August 12)”, according to the the state election calendar.

Colon is former city councilor and Board of Education member who tried to petition with Bird to run for council in the Upper East Side 138th District. Melanie Jackson and James Morton are the endorsed candidates running on Mayor Bill Finch’s line. Anthony Paoletto and Nessah Smith have qualified to challenge them on Joe Ganim’s line.

Challenge candidates need certified signatures of five percent of registered voters from the respective council districts to make the ballot. Citywide candidates require about 1900 signatures. Review of petition sheets continues for mayoral candidates Mary-Jane Foster, Howard Gardner and Charlie Coviello. Ganim has qualified.

Elections officials have until close of business next Wednesday to complete the count and then forward the ballot lineup to the Town Clerk’s Office. The election calendar requires that absentee ballots be available on August 25.