ith a deadline of 5 p.m. today, Republican US Senate candidate Jack E. Robinson faces a ''daunting'' task to file the necessary number of certified signatures to qualify for the November ballot, the state's top election official said.
According to reports from city and town clerks, Robinson, whose candidacy has been disowned by the state Republican Party and Governor Paul Cellucci, had only 490 certified signatures as of late yesterday, far short of the 10,000 he needs.
Secretary of State William F. Galvin, whose office oversees the state election system, said he would not try to predict if Robinson will make the deadline. But he indicated the GOP hopeful faces a monumental task to qualify for the ballot to challenge US Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
''It is certainly possible for him to obtain the signatures before the deadline,'' Galvin said. ''However, the logistics of getting the papers to local clerks' offices is going to be daunting.''
Robinson, the only Republican seeking the nomination, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
If Robinson does not qualify for a place on the ballot, it will mark the first time in more than a century that the Republican Party has not fielded a candidate for the US Senate. Despite Kennedy's strong standing among Massachusetts voters over his 38 years in the Senate, the GOP has always found a candidate to run against him.
Galvin said his office tracks the nomination papers through a recently created centralized computer system that is linked to almost every city and town clerk's office. Those local officials update several times a day the number of signatures they have certified for candidates.
Galvin said the computer lags behind the actual count, but not by a significant amount. ''It is a strong indicator where the person stands right now,'' he said.
He also said he had issued a systemwide directive to the local election officials to remind them that state law requires that their offices remain open until 5 p.m. today to accept nomination papers.
''If Mr. Robinson is to have any chance at success, he is going to have to make a late sprint,'' Galvin said.
If Robinson falls short, Kennedy could still face Libertarian Party candidate Carla Howell. But she, too, seemed to be lagging, having just about 2,000 signatures certified as of late yesterday. The Conservative Party candidate, Philip F. Lawler, has until August to file nomination papers because his party has not gained party nominating rights by gaining 3 percent of the vote in an election.
Cellucci and the state Republican Party had warmly embraced Robinson as their choice in March to lead the state ticket this fall after their first choice, Plymouth District Attorney Michael Sullivan, bowed out.
Robinson, who says he has accumulated a small fortune in several business ventures, told GOP leaders he was prepared to put up as much as $1 million of his own funds to finance his campaign.
But after reports surfaced involving arrests and other controversial behavior in Robinson's personal life, Cellucci quickly withdrew his endorsement and the party backed away from his candidacy.
The allegations and controversies ran from 15-year-old charges of drunk driving and carrying a concealed weapon - both dismissed - to a sworn allegation by a woman Robinson had dated that he had forced himself on her sexually. He strongly denied the charge, claiming she had been stalking him.
