CHARLESTOWN –– Three days before the 4 p.m. Friday deadline to complete nomination papers, four candidates for the Town Council and another four for the Planning Commission have obtained the 50 signatures they needed to qualify for the November ballot.

There will be no primaries for the local races.

Seven more candidates –– five for the council and two for the Planning Commission –– have yet to file their nomination papers.

All five council seats are up for election, as well as four Planning Commission seats, two regular seats and two alternates. As specified in the Town Charter, the two top Planning Commission vote-getters will serve as regular members and the next two as alternates.

So far, candidates are still in the certification stage, which means local boards of canvassers have to certify that those signing the candidates’ nomination forms are registered and eligible to vote and satisfy other requirements to sign the candidates’ nomination forms, such as living within that candidate’s district and having been registered at least 30 days before signing the candidate’s nomination papers.

(Donna M. Walsh and Matthew J. McHugh, the Democrat incumbent and independent vying for House District 36 –– which covers parts of Westerly, South Kingstown, New Shoreham and Charlestown –– got a few signatures knocked off their nomination papers because the signers were from the wrong district.)

The three-member Board of Canvassers –– yesterday down to two because member Sally Flynn was absent for medical reasons — will meet tomorrow to review a second batch of filings. The final certifications will be done Tuesday.

Candidates can withdraw through Monday. The final list of candidates will be posted on July 17.

THESE DAYS, voter registration cards and signatures have been scanned into the state’s central system, speeding up somewhat what remains a time-consuming process, said Rose, who did most of the verification work leading up to yesterday’s board of canvassers’ meeting.

Under the new system, Rose said, members no longer have to flip through paper files, but must still check each record individually –– that means 60 to 90 per candidate.

Multiply that by at least 29 sets of nomination papers to be reviewed in Charlestown. The only ones who don’t have to file nomination papers are endorsed candidates for party committees.

Budding candidates picked up their nomination papers on July 1. Two days later, the first complete sets were in.

Marjorie F. Frank, an independent running for the council, was the first in with 83 valid signatures. Her papers were time-stamped at 8:48 a.m.

Next was Richard H. Hosp, another independent candidate to the council, with 80 signatures.

Katharine H. Waterman, a current councilwoman now running for the Planning Commission, turned hers in at 9:08 a.m. She had 86, including a duplicate from fellow Planning Commission candidate Vic G. Dvorak who had signed her papers twice. (Only one was counted.)

OTHERS WHO submitted their papers that day (or who authorized someone else to handle it for them in their absence) were:

• Gordon L. Foer, running for the Planning Commission, who got 84 signatures.

• Matthew J. McHugh, the South Kingstown former state representative trying to regain control of House District 36, who got 73 signatures in Charlestown.

• Kathryn M. O’Connor, running for the Planning Commission, who got 85 signatures.

• Vic G. Dvorak, also running for the commission, with 81 signatures.

• Gregory J. Avedisian, running as an independent for the council, with 72 signatures.

• Donna M. Walsh and her husband, Henry A. Walsh, running for reelection to House District 36 and town moderator respectively, with 60 and 51 signatures, respectively..

Ralph C. Conti, a Democrat running for the council, submitted his forms Monday morning. He secured 68 signatures.

marmenta@projo.com