It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Commonwealth or the proper county board of elections, as the case may be, to examine, as to legal sufficiency, in the manner and under the provisions of section 976 of this act,¹ all nomination certificates and nomination papers brought to his or its office for the purpose of filing, for the nomination of candidates for a special election, as herein provided, and if manifestly defective, they shall not be filed. The action of the Secretary of the Commonwealth or the county board of election, in refusing to accept and file any such certificate or paper may be reviewed by the court upon an application to compel its reception and filing as of the date when it was brought to said office. No such certificate of nomination or nomination paper shall be refused by the Secretary of the Commonwealth or the county board of elections, except for any of the reasons provided for in section 976 of this act.