Lisa Deeley first to file nominating petitions

After three full days of gathering signatures from supporters, City Commissioner candidate Lisa Deeley filed 34 nominating petitions with a total of  1,603 signatures Friday morning.

Deeley is the first of any candidate to file required 1,000 signatures with the Board of Elections to get a spot on the May primary ballot.

Because she was first of the City Commissioner candidates to file more than 1,000 signatures and paid the $100 fee,  Deeley gets first draw in the ballot spot lottery, Tim Dowling, Supervisor of Elections for the City Commissioners, said.

Deeley will likely file more signatures by the end of the circulation period, March 10, to try to avoid getting challenged, Dowling said.

Ballot position is a big deal, especially in races with so many candidates.

Philadelphia has a lottery system. So every candidates who filed the required amount of signatures, gets to draw a numbered ball from an old coffee canister (this thing is decades old and is kept in the Board of Election's safe) on March 18.

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