A Carbon County judge in November denied a petition filed by a Towamensing man on behalf of three Palmerton residents who sought to open the ballot box of voting District 49 in Palmerton for the General Election of 2022.

The judge said the petitioners lack standing and cautioned the filer that practicing law without a license is punishable.

On Nov. 16, Arthur T. Gillespie, 400 Interchange Road, Lehighton, filed the petition in court seeking a recount of the vote totals in the West District of Palmerton on behalf of Jeremy D. and Roberta Y. Hans, both of 435 Franklin Ave., and Carolee Jo Boyer, 302 Third St., all of Palmerton.

The Hans and Boyer signed verifications on the petition stating they reside in the 49th election district when election records state they do not. A review of the election registration records shows they all reside in Palmerton’s 48th District. The petitioners, and Gillespie, are all registered Republicans.

The petition asked the court to order a recount of the races for Governor and U.S. Senate in the 49th District.

But Judge Steven R. Serfass denied the petition and in a two-page order said the petitioners lack standing because they “are not qualified electors of Carbon County Election District 49.”

Serfass went even further, writing in a footnote to his order, “Only those individuals named in the caption in this matter are petitioners. For reasons unknown to this Court, the petition was submitted pro se by Arthur T. Gillespie on each named petitioner’s behalf.

“Moreover, in Section A of the Court of Common Pleas Cover Sheet, ‘Lead Plaintiff’s Name’ is listed as Arthur T. Gillespie and it is indicated that petitioners have no attorney and are proceeding as self-represented (pro se) litigants. The accompanying verifications, although endorsed by the petitioners themselves, each state explicitly that the signatory has ‘caused’ the petition to be filed on their behalf. We note that any individual not duly licensed to practice law in this Commonwealth, who submits a pleading in their name on behalf of another person, may be found to have engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.”

Incidentally, the vote count shown by the county’s elections bureau showed in District 49, Republican Doug Mastriano defeated Democrat Josh Shapiro in the governor’s balloting, 177-111, while Republican Mehmet Oz defeated Democrat John Fetterman, in the senate balloting, 178 to 103.