While a super PAC aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indicated on its website that it had collected enough signatures for the candidate to appear on the South Carolina ballot, a federal judge ruled that Mr. Kennedy’s campaign could not collect ballot signatures at Maine polling locations during the March 5 primary.
In late February, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign sued Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. Ms. Bellows, a Democrat, enforced the state’s restriction on candidates gathering ballot signatures at polling places when an election is being held for the same office that the candidate is pursuing.
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said that the decision violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment.
In a 36-page ruling released on March 4, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock denied the request for an injunction. He ruled that Mr. Kennedy could not gather signatures on March 5 but could collect them during the state’s June legislative and congressional primary election.
“As a practical matter, it makes eminently good sense for the law, as interpreted by Secretary Bellows, to restrict candidate solicitations from inside voting locations when the office being sought is on the ballot that day,” Mr. Woodcock wrote.
Last December, Ms. Bellows ruled that former President Donald Trump was not eligible to appear on Maine’s Republican presidential ballot because of the U.S. Capitol incident on Jan. 6, 2021.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide on that case soon. On March 4, it ruled 9-0 in overturning a Colorado ballot access case with President Trump that is almost identical.
President Trump will be on the Super Tuesday Republican primary ballot in Maine.
Mr. Kennedy’s attorneys called Ms. Bellows a “Democrat partisan hack” after the lawsuit was filed last month.
They argued that the presence of Mr. Kennedy’s campaign would not influence voters because he was not on the March 5 ballot.
Campaigns for multiple Republican and Democrat presidential candidates were allowed to set up tables inside polling locations last November.
Ms. Bellows on March 4 said she was “pleased” with Mr. Woodcock’s decision.
“Maine law is very clear: within the voting place itself, a person may not influence another person’s decision regarding a candidate for an office or question that is on the ballot for the election that day,” Ms. Bellows said in a statement.
“That’s why no presidential campaign can collect signatures on presidential primary day. That being said, when a candidate’s office is not on the ballot, they can absolutely collect signatures. There’s a statewide election in June. Certainly, Mr. Kennedy can collect signatures then,” Ms. Bellows added.
As an independent, Mr. Kennedy must meet signature gathering requirements among other guidelines to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. At voter rallies nationwide, he has told supporters that he is confident the campaign will accomplish that objective because of “an army” of about 80,000 volunteers.
Independent presidential candidates must collect at least 4,000 signatures from registered voters to qualify for the general election ballot in Maine. American Values 2024, the super PAC aligned with Mr. Kennedy, updated its website to reflect that the organization has gathered enough signatures for him to appear on the ballot in South Carolina. According to the website, the super PAC has 14,634 signatures, exceeding the minimum of 10,000.
If the signatures are approved by the state, Mr. Kennedy will add South Carolina to a list that includes Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Utah.
The American Values 2024 website also shows that the group is close to meeting the 30,000-signature minimum in Michigan. The total currently stands at 27,500.
The super PAC reported last December that it would spend around $15 million to help him get on the ballot in multiple states deemed important to winning the presidential election.
Last month, Mr. Kennedy announced that his campaign had filed paperwork in six states to create a political party. The move was made to get his name on the ballot in those states with fewer voter signatures than is required for candidates not affiliated with a party.
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign established the “We the People” party in five states: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, and North Carolina. The “Texas Independent Party” was also formed.
Guidelines for securing a ballot spot differ in many states, as do deadlines.
Some states have varying guidelines about the number of signees in different parts of their state. Signatures can be challenged in multiple states after they’ve been submitted to election offices.
A statement by Mr. Kennedy’s campaign reported that filing for political party status in the six states reduced the number of signatures required for him to gain ballot access by about 330,000.
Multiple states provide independent presidential candidates with two methods of achieving ballot access: as an individual candidate or as the nominee of a new party, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said in a press release.
The two processes often require different numbers of signatures, the campaign explained.
