In a scoop from CBS news, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have to scrap the 15,000 signatures his campaign amassed in Nevada to get on the ballot in November.
RFK Jr. announced he was running as an Independent for President of the United States back in October 2023 stating at a campaign stop in Philadelphia, “We declare independence from the two political parties and the corrupt interests that dominate them, and the entire rigged system of rancor and rage, corruption and lies. “I haven’t made this decision lightly,” he said, “It is very painful for me to let go of the party of my uncles, my father.”
According to CBS:
Despite the campaign’s announcement earlier this month celebrating amassing 15,000 signatures in Nevada, which exceeds what’s needed to get on the ballot in November, the campaign could be forced to start its signature collection from scratch in the state because it failed to name a running mate when it filed Kennedy’s petition, according to documents filed by Kennedy.
Nevada’s presidential candidate’s guide states that independent candidate petitions must include both the presidential and vice presidential candidates’ names on the petition in order to be valid, the Nevada secretary of state’s office confirmed.
Documents requested from the Nevada office revealed that Kennedy only names himself on the petition, in violation of the rules and rendering the signatures collected in the state by his campaign void.
While this setback pushes him one step further from his goal of securing a spot on the ballot in all 50 states, the campaign still has time to collect new signatures, once Kennedy’s running mate is named Tuesday. The deadline to file the petition in Nevada is Aug. 9.
RFK Jr. has amassed enough signatures to appear on the ballot in Utah.
American Values 2024, the super PAC supporting Kennedy, claims it has collected enough signatures for RFK Jr. to appear on the ballot in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and South Carolina and intended on spending an additional $10-$15 million on collecting signatures in other states. However, the Democratic National Committee “filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Kennedy’s independent presidential campaign and the super PAC supporting him, American Values 2024, alleging the two were illegally colluding on ballot access for Kennedy.”
“Given the campaign’s success, we are no longer collecting signatures in any additional states, and will continue to fight the [Democratic National Committee] or [Republican National Committee] when they try to interfere with the constitutional right of American voters who overwhelmingly want independent candidates on the ballot,” the PAC said in a press release earlier this month.