In mid-April, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate in Utah and Michigan, though his campaign says it is working to get him on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Kennedy’s backers insist he’s not pursuing his White House bid just to hand the election to another candidate. They say he’s the real deal and has a shot at winning the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidential election.
Getting on the ballot in enough states to secure 270 votes — just over half the 538 votes in the Electoral College — is no small feat for a third-party contender. But it’s possible.
“I think he has a very good chance of getting onto all 50 ballots,” said Bernard Tamas, an associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University who studies third parties. “The short answer is, I can’t say definitively that he will, but it looks like he’s on track for it.”
Kennedy’s campaign says it has completed signature gathering in seven other states in addition to Utah and Michigan — Nevada, Idaho, Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Nebraska and Iowa.
The super PAC supporting Kennedy, American Values 2024, says it has collected enough signatures in Arizona, Georgia and South Carolina.
And yet, the campaign has yet to complete the paperwork and submit the petitions in those states. It noted that it still has months in most states to submit the paperwork because most states’ deadlines aren’t until July or August.
The campaign says it’s trying to evade legal battles by picking the right time to hand in the petitions, holding onto the signatures until the 11th hour in hopes that the signatures will face fewer challenges.
Kennedy has already run into a paperwork snafu in Nevada. In March, the campaign learned that it would likely have to start the signature process all over again after failing to include a vice presidential candidate on the petition it used to collect signatures in the state.
“After successfully collecting all of the signatures we need in Nevada, the DNC Goon Squad and their lackeys in the Nevada Secretary of State’s office are outright inventing a new requirement for the petition with zero legal basis,” Kennedy campaign ballot access attorney Paul Rossi complained.
In addition to varying state regulations for ballot access and expensive legal battles, Kennedy faces opposition from Democratic groups aiming to undermine third-party campaigns.
Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee formed a team to challenge third-party and independent presidential candidates. The effort will depend on other groups like Third Way, MoveOn, and a new super PAC, Clear Choice, backed by allies of President Biden.
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having 3 candidacy in presintial ballot is good for the US