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Lottery Numbers for Thursday, April 13

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University of Michigan unveils 1,500-pound Rubik’s Cube

<p>Walter Griffith has enough petition signatures to remain on the May 16 primary election ballot in the Luzerne County controller&#8217;s race, county Judge William H. Amesbury decided Thursday afternoon.</p><p>Amesbury issued the ruling in response to a request for reconsideration filed by former county councilman Rick Morelli.</p><p>The judge had recently disqualified signatures on Griffith&#8217;s petition for a variety of legal reasons, leaving the Kingston Township resident with 251 signatures, or one more than required.</p><p>Morelli returned to court, asking the judge to void two more signatures.</p><p>In response, Griffith argued that he should receive credit for two additional signatures, contending they were removed twice &#8212; first by the election office when he turned in his petition and then by the judge.</p><p>In his ruling Thursday, Amesbury took off the two signatures cited by Morelli, and Griffith received credit for two.</p><p>The result: no net change.</p><p>Griffith has the 251 signatures needed to appear on the ballot, which means &#8220;the voters of Luzerne County will decide,&#8221; the judge wrote.</p><p>Griffith is the lone Republican on the ballot seeking a nomination for controller. Incumbent Controller Michelle Bednar is running without competition on the Democratic side in the primary.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m happy that the citizens of Luzerne County can now decide whether they want me to be their controller or not in a democratic way,&#8221; Griffith said.</p><p>He received the ruling from the county election office during Thursday evening&#8217;s election board meeting. It was time-stamped as filed but had not been publicly posted in the county prothonotary&#8217;s office at that time.</p><p>Morelli said he was awaiting a copy of the ruling and wanted to review it with his legal counsel.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m disappointed in the decision,&#8221; Morelli said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll determine if it makes sense to appeal, but I&#8217;m not going to hold up the whole election process because of this.&#8221;</p><p>According to the opinion, Amesbury launched an internal count of Griffith&#8217;s petitions after Morelli filed his emergency petition seeking reconsideration.</p><p>Amesbury said Griffith started out with 275 signature lines, and a total 24 were not accepted based on a decision by Amesbury or the election office, resulting in 251.</p><p>Griffith said he did not have time to seek a larger cushion of surplus signatures due to work and his determination to secure most of the signatures himself.</p><p>&#8220;I wanted to be able to knock on the doors and get a feel for what people thought about me. The response was overwhelming,&#8221; Griffith said.</p><p>Morelli said his challenge was not vindictive and reiterated that the process revealed several more signatures of voters who were not registered Republicans as required on Griffith&#8217;s petition. Some of these signatures were not voided by the judge because Morelli did not flag these names in his initial challenge.</p><p>Griffith and Morelli agree on one point: the petition signature process warrants revamping. When Griffith raised the issue Thursday, the election board and administration said they will discuss the matter.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Griffith </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_griffith.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Griffith </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_morelli.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Morelli </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_morelli.jpeg</photo1><caption1>Morelli </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>For other local news stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/local" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Walter Griffith to remain on the ballot in Luzerne County Controller race