Weekly Ballot Access News: Kennedy Says He’s Collected Enough Signatures to be on the Ballot in All 50 States

by Leah Watson, Breaking News Reporter, The Kennedy Beacon

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on X that his campaign has collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in all 50 states. 

Kennedy is now officially on the ballot in 24 states and has submitted enough signatures in 18 states as well as D.C. Kennedy has also collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in eight additional states that have yet to be submitted.

Despite incessant press reports to the contrary, the campaign has been submitting ballots rapidly, and certifications are coming by the week. Kennedy’s independent run has already been the most successful in a generation – since Ross Perot ran for president in 1992.

Last week, Kennedy was certified in West Virginia and is officially on the state’s ballot for the November election. According to Metro News, West Virginia’s Secretary of State’s Office Chief Deputy, Deak Kersy, determined that Kennedy is “over the threshold” with more than enough valid signatures. The verification process is still ongoing as Kennedy submitted 18,000 signatures, a great deal more than the 7,947 required to get on the ballot in West Virginia.

On August 17, Kennedy submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Alabama, Arizona, and Montana. In each state, Team Kennedy submitted his signatures with a healthy buffer of two or three times the required number. 

On August 21, Missouri’s Secretary of State certified RFK Jr., officially placing him on the ballot. 

Additionally, the Arizona Director of Elections certified 118,752 signatures, a state that only needs 42,303. AZ Central reports that Kennedy submitted that precise number of signatures to get on the Arizona ballot, according to a filing receipt released by the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday morning. 

Outside of the filing of signatures, in Kentucky, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Wyoming Kennedy must still be validated and certified in those states before Kennedy will gain official ballot access. 

Meanwhile, the DNC-backed lawfare conducted against Kennedy continues across the country. This week alone, three jurisdictions are holding hearings and meetings to determine his ballot access, keeping Kennedy off the campaign trail. He arrived an hour-and-a-half late for a hearing in Pennsylvania due to a canceled flight. The Democratic Party judge denied him the opportunity to testify, even though the court had blocked the entire day for the hearing.

Additionally, there is a legal trial being held in Long Island, New York regarding the integrity of the signatures collected.

And in Illinois, that state’s Board of Elections has its next meeting this Friday to determine if he and other minor parties will be certified. 

In a recent press release from the Kennedy campaign, Kennedy’s Senior Counsel, Paul Rossi, stated, “The Democratic Party in Maine withdrew their challenge to Mr. Kennedy’s use of his New York address on petitions in Maine, acknowledging it was the proper address to use.”

After a setback in the Albany Supreme Court, Kennedy filed an appeal on August 14. Oral arguments for Kennedy’s appeal on his residency status will be held on August 28 at 10 a.m., in the New York Appellate Division - 3rd Dept, at State Street, Room 511 in Albany. 

Finally, American Values 2024 will file, with Team Kennedy, a First Amended Complaint in the Southern District of NY, federal court, to seek a Temporary Restraining Order against the New York State Board of Elections from removing Kennedy from the ballot, on the grounds that the residency requirement being enforced against him by the NY State court is unconstitutional. As Kennedy reported on X, two similar cases have been won on appeal and he is confident he will be restored to the New York ballot. 

The below map from the website 270toWin tracks Kenendy’s ballot access progress.  

States in gold are those where Kennedy is officially on the ballot. States in beige are those where he has submitted signatures.

Pink or light blue states are those in which Kennedy has not yet completed a signature collection or submitted signatures.

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