Republicans furious over ballot error in Philadelphia

A printing error on election ballots at some Philadelphia polling places misstated the name of a statewide judicial candidate, leaving Republicans fuming Tuesday.

Christine Fizzano Cannon, a Delaware County judge, was running as a Republican for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

Her last name is Cannon, and her campaign material used a cannon logo.

But one of two printers who produced the ballots in Philadelphia’s 1,681 voting divisions  identified her as “Christine Fizzano,” omitting the “Cannon.”

Delaware County Republican Party chairman Andy Reilly said it’s not a trivial error.

“It would be like, if two years from now, Mayor Kenney ran, and they just put on there ‘James F,’ ” Reilly said in a telephone interview.

Reilly noted that Cannon is a Republican, running against a Philadelphia judge in a heavily Democratic city. Common Pleas Judge Ellen Ceisler is running as a Democrat for Commonwealth Court.

Al Schmidt, co-chair of the city commissioners, which run elections, said his staff was notified at 10 a.m. Tuesday and, by noon, had dispatched crews to post notices in polling places alerting voters to the error.

“It’s a big concern,” Schmidt said in a phone interview. “Elections should be flawless. There’s no do-overs, so I can certainly understand the frustration on the part of the campaign.”

Schmidt said after the ballots were printed, all of the city’s machines were made available for inspection to candidates, political parties, and members of the public. That open inspection occurred Oct. 27, and Schmidt said no one raised an issue about Cannon’s name.

It’s not yet clear how many polling places were affected, but Reilly said if Cannon loses, he’ll consider contesting the result.