With less than two weeks until the first presidential debate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his campaign are working diligently to secure spots on as many state ballots as possible to qualify for the debate on CNN. The network requires candidates to feasibly win at least 270 electoral votes.
The independent presidential candidate announced on Friday that he has qualified for the ballot in 19 states, which could net him 278 electoral votes. However, at least 10 of those states have yet to certify the validity of his submissions.
Running as an independent means Kennedy must undertake the laborious task of gathering millions of signatures, which then need to be validated by the states.
Several issues have arisen during his signature collection efforts, with the most significant hurdle occurring in Nevada.
Kennedy filed a lawsuit against Nevada after discovering that the campaign’s collection of over 15,000 signatures in the state would be invalidated. The petition they circulated did not include a vice presidential candidate, a requirement under state law to appear on the ballot. A staffer in the Nevada office had mistakenly informed Kennedy that a running mate was not needed. However, a spokesperson for the office stated that the Kennedy campaign had been provided clear guidelines for ballot access in a memo that same month.
In case Kennedy loses his lawsuit, his campaign is distributing an amended petition that lists his running mate, Nicole Shanahan.
The Kennedy campaign has until July 5 to collect 10,000 signatures to be considered for the ballot.
In addition to Nevada, Kennedy is encountering challenges in New York regarding his ballot access. A spokesperson for a super PAC affiliated with President Joe Biden accused Kennedy of lying about his residency in the state and listed an address at which he does not live on the petition.
This week, however, Kennedy achieved a victory by securing access to Florida’s ballot through the Reform Party.
