Jun 10, 2011 By Jennifer Harr 3 min read

?A Fayette County judge will conduct a hearing to determine if a candidate for district attorney will appear on the Republican ballot, a move that would set up a contest for the seat in the November general election.

Judge Nancy D. Vernon, who in 1999 mounted a similar challenge to appear on the Republican ballot by virtue of write-ins in the primary, will hear John S. Cupp Jr.’s petition to count 60 additional write-ins that appeared on the Republican ballot. The county’s election board certified 191 write-ins for him, but he needs 250 to secure the Republican nod.

If Vernon credits Cupp with the 60 write-ins he has challenged, he would have 251 votes.

That would create a race in the general election for the county’s chief prosecutor.

Acting District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr., who took over when Vernon was elected judge, secured the Democrat nod for the seat.

Cupp, who represented himself during a motions hearing Thursday before Judge Steve P. Leskinen, noted that in addition to the 1999 Vernon case, there was a similar 2009 case that would support a judge allowing the write-ins.

He told Leskinen that he believed the facts to decide the case were set forth in the petition he filed, and noted that the only relevant witness in the matter would be the director of the election bureau, Larry Blosser.

Attorney Ed Newcomer, who was in court representing Heneks, and attorney Sheryl Heid, who is the solicitor for the election bureau, both asked for a hearing in the matter. Newcomer said that he believed the court should develop a record in the case.

“The question of law is whether we’re able to discern the intent of the voter,” Heid said.

She requested that Vernon schedule the hearing within seven days because it is currently holding up the county’s ability to certify the primary results.

The case was assigned to Vernon when it was filed.

The bulk of the write-ins Cupp wants counted, 56, were written in as “CUPP.” Another two were written in for “j cupp” and there was one each written in for “john a. cupp” and “john cup.”

In his petition to have the votes counted, Cupp noted that he was only the person by that last name on the ballot for district attorney, and noted that each of the write-ins were variations of his name.

In 1999, then-President Judge William J. Franks gave Vernon credit for 12 votes that were only her last name, and four that were written in as “N. Vernon.”