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When any nomination
petition, nomination certificate or nomination paper is
presented in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
or of any county board of elections for filing within the period
limited by this act, it shall be the duty of the said officer
or board to examine the same. No nomination petition, nomination
paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed

if--(a) it contains material errors or defects apparent on the
face thereof, or on the face of the appended or accompanying
affidavits; or (b) it contains material alterations made after
signing without the consent of the signers; or (c) it does not
contain a sufficient number of signatures as required by law;
Provided, however, That the Secretary of the Commonwealth or
the county board of elections, although not hereby required so
to do, may question the genuineness of any signature or
signatures appearing thereon, and if he or it shall thereupon
find that any such signature or signatures are not genuine,
such signature or signatures shall be disregarded in determining
whether the nomination petition, nomination paper or nomination
certificate contains a sufficient number of signatures as
required by law; or (d) in the case of nomination petitions,
if nomination petitions have been filed for printing the name
of the same person for the same office, except the office of
judge of a court of common pleas, the Philadelphia Municipal
Court or the office of school director in districts where that
office is elective or the office of justice of the peace upon
the official ballot of more than one political party; or (e)
in the case of nomination papers, if the candidate named therein
has filed a nomination petition for any public office for the
ensuing primary, or has been nominated for any such office by
nomination papers previously filed; or (f) if the nomination
petitions or papers are not accompanied by the filing fee or
certified check required for said office; or (g) in the case
of nomination papers, the appellation set forth therein is
identical with or deceptively similar to the words used by any
existing party or by any political body which has already filed
nomination papers for the same office, or if the appellation
set forth therein contains part of the name, or an abbreviation
of the name or part of the name of an existing political party,
or of a political body which has already filed nomination papers
for the same office. The invalidity of any sheet of a nomination
petition or nomination paper shall not affect the validity of
such petition or paper if a sufficient petition or paper remains
after eliminating such invalid sheet. The action of said officer
or board in refusing to receive and file any such nomination
petition, certificate or paper, may be reviewed by the court
upon an application to compel its reception as of the date when
it was presented to the office of such officer or board:
Provided, however, That said officer or board shall be entitled
to a reasonable time in which to examine any petitions,
certificates or papers, and to summon and interrogate the
candidates named therein, or the persons presenting said
petitions, certificates or papers, and his or their retention
of same for the purpose of making such examination or
interrogation shall not be construed as an acceptance or filing.
   Upon completion of any examination, if any nomination
petition, certificate or paper is found to be defective, it
shall forthwith be rejected and returned to the candidate or
one of the candidates named therein, together with a statement
of the reasons for such rejection:
   Provided further, That no nomination petition, nomination
paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed,
if the political party or political body referred to therein
shall be composed of a group of electors whose purposes or aims,
or one of whose purposes or aims, is the establishment, control,
conduct, seizure or overthrow of the Government of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States of America
by the use of force, violence, military measure or threats of
one or more of the foregoing. The authority to reject such

nomination petition, paper or certificate for this reason shall,
when filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, be vested
in a committee composed of the Governor, the Attorney General
and the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and when filed with any
county board of elections shall be vested in such board. If in
such case the committee or board, as the case may be, shall
conclude that the acceptance of such nomination petition, paper
or certificate should be refused, it shall within two days of
the filing of such nomination petition, paper or certificate
fix a place and a time five days in advance for hearing the
matter, and notice thereof shall be given to all parties
affected thereby. At the time and place so fixed the committee
or board, as the case may be, shall hear testimony, but shall
not be bound by technical rules of evidence. The testimony
presented shall be stenographically recorded and made a part
of the record of the committee or board. Within two days after
such hearing the committee or board, if satisfied upon competent
evidence that the said nomination petition, paper or certificate
is not entitled to be accepted and filed, it shall announce its
decision and immediately notify the parties affected thereby.
Failure to announce decision within two days after such hearing
shall be conclusive that such nomination petition, paper or
certificate has been accepted and filed. The decision of said
committee or board in refusing to accept and file such
nomination petition, paper or certificate may be reviewed by
the court upon an application to compel its reception as of the
date when presented to the Secretary of the Commonwealth or
such board. The application shall be made within two days of
the time when such decision is announced. If the application
is properly made, any judge of said court may fix a time and
place for hearing the matter in dispute, of which notice shall
be served with a copy of said application upon the Secretary
of the Commonwealth or the county board of elections, as the
case may be. At the time so fixed, the court, or any judge
thereof assigned for the purpose, shall hear the case de novo.
If after such hearing the said court shall find that the
decision of the committee or the board was erroneous, it shall
issue its mandate to the committee or board to correct its
decision and to accept and file the nomination paper, petition
or certificate. From any decision of the court an appeal may
be taken within two days after the entry thereof. It shall be
the duty of the said court to fix the hearing and to announce
its decision within such period of time as will permit the
Secretary of the Commonwealth or the county board of elections
to permit the names of the candidates affected by the court's
decision to be printed on the ballot, if the court should so
determine.
   (976 amended Oct. 31, 2019, P.L.552, No.77)
  Compiler's Note: Section 28 of Act 207 of 2004 provided
      that any and all references in any other law to a
      "district justice" or "justice of the peace" shall be
      deemed to be references to a magisterial district judge.
  Compiler's Note: Section 509 of Act 223 of 1970 provided
      that section 976 is repealed insofar as it vests
      jurisdiction and powers in courts in any manner
      inconsistent with Act 223, provides a time for appeal
      to an appellate court which is other than the time
      expressly provided in section 502 of Act 223, provides
      appeal procedures inconsistent with Act 223 or is
      otherwise in any manner inconsistent with Act 223.