Electronic filing within limitation can satisfy election petition requirements despite a curable portal defect and later physical filing.

An election petition electronically filed on the last permissible date, with an e-filing number generated, was treated as instituted within limitation despite a portal objection and later physical filing. The court treated the objection as a curable procedural defect and held that subsequent physical filing did not negate the earlier online filing. Procedural irregularities could not defeat the substantive remedy once the petition had been received in the online registry in time, so the petitions were not barred by limitation and could proceed on merits.

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Issues: Whether an election petition electronically filed within the prescribed limitation period, but showing a filing objection and followed by later physical filing, can be treated as barred by limitation.

Analysis: The petitioners electronically filed the election petitions on the last permissible date and an electronic filing number was generated, which satisfied the requirements of the applicable e-filing rules. The objection reflected in the portal was treated as a curable procedural defect. The subsequent physical filing did not amount to waiver of the earlier electronic filing, because the material fact was receipt of the petitions in the online registry within limitation. Procedural deficiencies cannot defeat a substantive remedy when the proceeding has already been instituted within time.

Conclusion: The electronic filing on the prescribed date was valid and the petitions were within limitation. The objection did not render the petitions time-barred, and the petitioners were entitled to have the defects cured and the election petitions heard on merits.

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