Last night, a Philadelphia Common Pleas court judge threw candidate for District Attorney Seth Williams off the primary ballot for failing to disclose the reimbursement of certain campaign expenses as "income." I am no lawyer and will leave it to lawyers to comment on the merits of this decision. But as a Philadelphian, this process makes me sick… literally.

I am disgusted by the way this game is played by those who would decide elections in back rooms and behind closed doors rather than making their case to the voters. Sometimes, I think we get the government we deserve — but we, as voters, always deserve to make that choice ourselves.

Four years ago, my opponent, the current City Controller, played lawyer ball to knock his opponent off the Primary ballot so he could run unopposed. With that in mind, I spent the weeks gathering signatures myself and filling out my disclosure forms in consultation with lawyers and accountants with my stomach in knots. Even though I knew I had nothing to hide and was doing everything as “by-the-book” as I knew how, I was terrified that my opponent would challenge my candidacy and force me into court where God only knows what ruling an elected judge might make to support an incumbent ward leader.

Maybe I did everything exactly right or maybe my opponent forgot to challenge me, but the deadline for challenging my candidacy came and went without incident. Not so for Mr. Williams.

The Williams campaign vows to appeal claiming that the reimbursements are not considered income by the Internal Revenue Service, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue or the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission. On behalf of all Philadelphians, I hope he is successful in his appeal. Voters should decide elections, not judges.