Gary Lowell
As I said in a previous post, I took out nomination papers for state representative for this year’s election. Once I took out nomination papers, I had to collect 150 certified signatures. Once I did that, I had to turn them in to my town hall to be certified. After being certified, they had to then be taken to Elections Division in Boston, in addition to a Statement of Financial Interest from the State Ethics Commission. Once I had done that, I was under the impression that I had done all that was required of me to get on the ballot.
As I also mentioned in a previous article, a challenge was filed to my nomination papers. Not knowing exactly what to do when that happened, I went into Elections Division to find out; I learned I had to file an answer with both the objector and Elections Division before the hearing and file an appearance before the hearing. All of that was done only to have the objector withdraw the objection.
