Ballot Access Breaking News: Kennedy Submits Signatures in Key Battleground State, Pennsylvania

By Leah Watson, Breaking News Reporter, The Kennedy Beacon

The Kennedy campaign continues to make strides toward its goal to be on the ballot in every state in the nation: on Friday, June 21, Team Kennedy announced that they had submitted over 9,000 signatures, about twice what is needed to gain ballot access in Pennsylvania. The submission comes six weeks before the official deadline, August 1. 

Kennedy is officially on the ballot in nine states: Utah, Michigan, California, Delaware, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Texas, South Carolina, and Florida. Additionally, Kennedy has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot or has been nominated by the We The People party in 14 states: New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Minnesota, Alaska, Tennessee, Washington, and most recently Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has been an unpredictable battleground state for the last two presidential elections, swinging between the two major parties. In 2020, President Biden won the state of Pennsylvania over Trump by a close margin of 81,660 votes. In 2016, Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton by a mere 44,292 votes. 

States like Pennsylvania could play a key role in the upcoming election, especially if Kennedy officially appears on the state ballot. As highlighted in a recent article published by Spotlight PA, Pennsylvania is experiencing a shift in political preferences. Democrats are losing their small lead over Republicans with “about a 4% advantage in April 2024, according to a Spotlight PA analysis of Department of State data.” Additionally, there has been a rise in independent voters: the number of people registered as independent or under a third party equates to 15% of the state’s registered voters. This number is quite large considering that independent voters cannot vote in primary elections in Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania requires independent candidates to submit a minimum of 5,000 signatures from registered voters in order to qualify for the ballot. Anticipating legal challenges from the Biden and Trump campaigns, Kennedy submitted nearly twice the required amount. According to PennLive, legal challenges against Kennedy’s paperwork must be filed no later than August 8. As reported in The Kennedy Beacon, DNC-aligned groups are already challenging Kennedy’s signatures in North Carolina and New York. 

Pennsylvania, the nation’s fifth most populous state, has 19 electoral votes. Combining the electoral votes in the states where Kennedy is officially on the ballot with the states where he has fulfilled signature requirements or aligned with a political party, Kennedy has amassed a total of 323 electoral votes. This is shown in a map on the website 270toWin.

States in beige are those where Kennedy is officially on the ballot. States in yellow are those where he has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot or is aligned with the We The People Party.