PROVIDENCE –– The state Republican Party has asked the Rhode Island Supreme Court to reverse a recent Board of Elections ruling that blocks five prospective GOP candidates from running for the General Assembly, an institution long dominated by Democrats.

The party filed the appeal late last week in a case that GOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione says reeks of corruption and political gamesmanship.

“This is not a complicated legal issue,” Cicione said. “Unless there’s a compelling reason, a candidate should have the opportunity to run for office.”

The dispute centers on where Cicione submitted the names of the prospective candidates –– who sought seats representing districts in Providence, Pawtucket and West Warwick –– by the June 30 deadline.

Cicione filed their declarations with the secretary of state’s office. But the Board of Elections said he should have submitted them to the local boards of canvassers.

Judiciary spokesman Craig Berke confirmed yesterday that the court had received the GOP appeal, but did not immediately outline a timeline for the case. The timing is significant, given that candidates across the state have already begun campaigning.

Rhode Island’s primary election is Sept. 9, with the general election to follow Nov. 4.

“They’re anxious because they’re losing time,” Cicione said of the five candidates. “But it’s just July. If things go our way, we’ll have plenty of time to run a strong race.”

It’s unclear, however, whether the five will run if the Supreme Court reverses the Board of Elections’ decision.

Cicione said he hadn’t polled all five, but that “some of them are more excited and motivated than ever to run because they just cannot believe the lengths that the Democrats will go through to get good Republicans off the ballot.”

In its appeal, the GOP asks the Supreme Court to order the local boards of canvassers to furnish the candidates with nomination papers, which would allow them to gather required signatures to appear on the ballot. The GOP further asks the high court to give the candidates 10 days to collect the signatures.

The Board of Elections voted earlier in the month –– against the advice of its own lawyer –– against the Republican candidates.

Since the law allowing party chairmen to nominate candidates does not specifically say where the names should be filed, Board of Elections lawyer Raymond Marcaccio had urged the board to promote candidate access to the ballot.

But a motion to allow the Republicans to collect their nominating papers went down in a 2-to-2 vote. A subsequent motion — to deny them their papers based on a disputed “ambiguity” in the law — was approved unanimously. The candidates in question are John Clarke, who is seeking to unseat Senate Finance Chairman Stephen Alves, D-West Warwick; Elaina Goldstein, seeking to replace Sen. Rhoda Perry, the Providence Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services; the state GOP’s director of operations and community outreach, Lammis Vargas, seeking a Senate seat held for more than three decades by Pawtucket Democrat John McBurney; Kofua Kulah, who hopes to challenge Providence Democratic Sen. Paul V. Jabour; and Damien Baldino, running for an open seat held by longtime Providence Rep. Steven Smith.

speoples@projo.com