The decision of a Carbon County judge in allowing four of five candidates for a supervisors' position in East Penn Township to remain on the May primary ballot has been appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Jacob and Kimberly Nothstein, who challenged the nominating petitions of five people seeking the supervisors' positions in the township, have appealed Judge Joseph J. Matika's opinion and ruling that four of the five can remain on the primary ballot.The Nothsteins challenged the nominating petitions of Alice Berger, Randy Pfeiffer, Guy Barry, William G. Schwab and David Bryfogle, claiming they filed their required Statement of Financial Interests past the March 10 deadline.Following a hearing held before Matika, the judge issued a 25-page opinion dismissing the appeals concerning Berger, Pfeiffer, Barry and Schwab, thus permitting their names to remain on the ballot.Matika granted the petition concerning the nominating petition of Bryfogle and ordered the county election bureau to remove his name from the primary ballot because he said Bryfogle did not file on time.Two supervisor seats are up for election this year. Jacob Nothstein is a current supervisor who is seeking re-election.Schwab and Berger are seeking the Republican nomination, and Barry and Pfeiffer are seeking the Democratic nomination.At a hearing held on March 20, Schwab presented testimony of his secretary, Amanda Kincaid, who said she mailed his financial statement as well as Berger's on March 10. When the filings were received by the township they had a postmark date of March 11.Barry testified he personally delivered both nomination petitions to the bureau of elections in Jim Thorpe on March 9. Upon returning home, Barry said he made photocopies of both financial statements and mailed them to the township that day.Township secretary Deanna L. Cunfer testified Barry hand-delivered the statements to her past March 10 date.Matika's ruling said the filing questions of all four centered on the "date of filing."He ruled that Schwab's and Berger's statements were mailed on March 10 and that there was no evidence to disprove that Barry did not mail his and Pfeiffer's on March 9 as testified.The state court has ordered the county election board not to prepare or print the May primary ballots until it rules on the appeal of the Nothsteins.Court records show the appeals were filed April 2. All the parties were notified of the appeal. An order for a transcript was also made.As of today the state court has not indicated when it will hear the matter.