over other business before it, and shall finally determine said
matter not later than fifteen (15) days after the last day for
filing said nomination petitions or papers. If the court shall
find that said nomination petition or paper is defective under
the provisions of section 976, or does not contain a sufficient
number of genuine signatures of electors entitled to sign the
same under the provisions of this act, or was not filed by
persons entitled to file the same, it shall be set aside. If the
objections relate to material errors or defects apparent on the
face of the nomination petition or paper, the court, after
hearing, may, in its discretion, permit amendments within such
time and upon such terms as to payment of costs, subject to
section 977.1, as the said court may specify. [In case any such
petition is dismissed, the court shall make such order as to the
payment of the costs of the proceedings, including witness fees,
as it shall deem just.] If a person shall sign any nomination
petitions or papers for a greater number of candidates than he
is permitted under the provisions of this act, if said
signatures bear the same date, they shall, upon objections filed
thereto, not be counted on any petition or paper and if they
bear different dates, they shall be counted in the order of
their priority of date, for only so many persons as there are
candidates to be nominated or elected. The office of the
Prothonotary of the Commonwealth Court and the office of the
Secretary of the Commonwealth and the various offices of
prothonotary of the court of common pleas shall be open between
the hours of eight-thirty o'clock A.M. and five o'clock P.M. on
the last day to withdraw after filing nomination petitions and
on the last day to file objections to nomination petitions.
Section 5. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 977.1. Allocation of Costs in Objection
Proceedings.--(a) In each objection proceeding under section
977, each party shall generally bear his or her own costs.
(b) If the court presiding at the objection finds good
cause, the court may make an order as to the payment of costs of
the proceedings, including witness fees, under this section.
(c) For the purpose of this section, the term "good cause"
includes but is not limited to:
(1) engaging in bad faith during the objection proceedings
before the court, including but not limited to willful non-
compliance with case management orders and misrepresentation
about the status of a review of signatures;
(2) failing to cooperate diligently with other parties in
the case when ordered to do so;
(3) submitting and defending a nomination paper or
nomination petition which the candidate named in the nomination
paper or nomination petition knows or has reason to know contain
fraudulent or invalid signatures and persisting in defending the
nomination paper or nomination petition in the objection
process; or
(4) engaging in conduct which is dilatory, obdurate or
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