On Aug. 2, three candidates were running for the City Council in District 15: Jose Padilla Jr., Oscar Zorrilla and incumbent Joel Rivera. Two weeks later, only Rivera made it onto the official primary ballot.

In order to obtain a spot on the ballot, City Council candidates needed to submit petitions signed by 900 voters registered in their district to the Board of Elections (BOE). Padilla and Zorrilla both submitted enough signatures, but received objections from arguing against the legality of their signatures. After a struggle with the BOE and the Bronx Supreme Court, and no lawyers to help them out, both were booted off the ballot.

Padilla, Zorrilla and others say their removal is indicative of a petitioning system that heavily favors incumbents and discourages political competition.

“The [petitioning] process itself disenfranchises the voters” said Miguel Santana, a former candidate for the 14th District City Council who was removed from the ballot due to signature objections. “It is easier to knock people off the ballot than to facilitate an opportunity for a new candidate.”

In the complex petitioning process, any objector can claim that a candidate’s petitions are forgeries, signed by voters outside of their district or illegal in some other way. If the candidate chooses to defend himself against the objection, the case will be taken to Bronx Supreme Court. After hearing arguments, a judge then decides whether the candidate has enough legitimate signatures to be on the ballot.

“The [petitioning] process is designed to benefit incumbents or folks who are rich enough to hire an election lawyer” said Neal Rosenstein, an election specialist for New York Public Interest Research Group, a local think tank. “It is a Byzantine [ancient] process.” Rosenstein and others agree it is almost impossible to get on the ballot (or kick an opponent off the ballot) without an election lawyer.

Fernando Cabrera, a well-funded and heavily supported candidate in the 14th Council District, spent $5,500 to hire Bronx power broker, Stanley Schlein, to be his election lawyer, according to Campaign Finance Board records. Schlein was present at Santana’s court case representing Gloria Nunez-Pacheco and Michael Olizencia, who opposed Santana’s petitions. Santana did not have the money to hire an election lawyer and chose not to defend his petitions in court.

Besides law problems, a major flaw in the petitioning process and the BOE is that it’s politicized. In the Bronx, county leaders (from both parties) submit candidates to be on the Board of Elections, said Valerie Vazquez-Rivera, a spokesperson for the BOE who also happens to be Joel Rivera’s wife. Joel Rivera’s father, Jose Rivera, used to be the Democratic leader for the Bronx.

Not surprisingly, no incumbents running for re-election in the Bronx had to go to court to defend their petitions. And after the petition court proceedings ended, two Bronx incumbents ended up running unopposed for City Council, according to the BOE.

Padilla suspects that Rivera, the incumbent in his district, hired a person to file an objection to his petitions and knock him off the ballot. His objector, Annette DeJesus, claimed that most of his petitions were forgeries or had illegible signatures. “I was a significant threat,” said Padilla. “They [Rivera and his campaign] feel they should run unopposed.” Rivera could not be reached for comment by press time.

Without the aid of a lawyer, Padilla chose to defend the legality of his petition signatures in court. “You are given an opportunity [to defend your petitions],” Padilla said, “but that doesn’t mean that [the court is] hearing your argument and that it will be taken into account.”

After a frustrating and confounding struggle with the BOE and the Bronx Supreme Court, Padilla lost his case and was removed from the ballot. It’s not just Padilla who loses, he said. “It is unfortunate that the 15th [District] will not have democracy,” Padilla said.