Weekly Ballot Access News: Kennedy Submits Signatures in Georgia and Has Enough Signatures to Qualify in Indiana

By Leah Watson, Breaking News Reporter, The Kennedy Beacon

On July 10, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that his campaign had submitted more than double the number of signatures to gain ballot access in Georgia. On the same day, the campaign announced that officials have determined that Kennedy has more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Indiana.

In Georgia, an independent presidential candidate must submit a minimum of 7,500 petitions. Kennedy and his team turned in 21,000 signatures on the day of the deadline. Other candidates submitting signatures for Georgia’s ballot were independent presidential candidate Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Photo taken from Gabriel Sterling (Chief Operating Officer in the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office) via X

In Indiana, county officials announced that they had certified nearly 39,000 petition signatures for Kennedy. This amount is well more than the 36,943 signatures that are required to qualify for the ballot in Indiana. On July 1, the Kennedy campaign submitted over 105,000 signatures in Indiana to qualify for the ballot, almost three times the required number. 

Progress in New York and Colorado 

According to the campaign, in New York State Kennedy turned in 135,519 signatures in May to be validated. On July 10, the New York State Board of Elections determined that out of those 135,519 signatures, 108,680 were validated. This is more than double the 45,000 signatures that were required to qualify for the ballot. Kennedy’s success in New York is impressive, given the state’s notoriety for its extensive and nearly impossible ballot access requirements. Kennedy is the only independent and/or member of a minor party to be on the ballot in this 2024 election cycle due to how onerous New York requirements are. 

On July 11, the Kennedy campaign announced that Kennedy submitted more than twice the number of signatures to qualify for the ballot in Colorado. As reported in The Kennedy Beacon, Kennedy announced a partnership with the Libertarian Party of Colorado, but he also wishes to appear as an independent candidate on the ballot in Colorado. On July 11, the Kennedy campaign submitted 30,000 signatures to qualify for the Colorado ballot as an independent candidate. 

Hannah Goodman, chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado, is quoted in Kennedy’s press announcement as saying, “We hope to place RFK Jr. on two ballot lines in Colorado, where in the tradition of fusion voting, Coloradans will see him running as an Independent and with support from the Libertarian Party of Colorado.”

Four ballot access milestones were just accomplished, and we can expect many more to come in the weeks ahead, as Kennedy is determined to be on the ballot in all 50 states by mid-July. 

Kennedy is officially on the ballot in nine states, according to the campaign. He has handed in signatures, collected enough signatures, or been nominated by a minor party in 20 additional states.

Combining the electoral votes in the states where he is officially on the ballot with those where he has submitted signatures, has collected enough signatures, or has aligned with a minor party, Kennedy currently has a total of 390 electoral votes. According to the campaign, that is 72% of the 538 total electoral votes nationwide. This is mapped on the website 270toWin.

States in beige are those where Kennedy is officially on the ballot. States in yellow are those where he has submitted signatures, has collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, or has aligned with a minor party. States in red or blue are those where Kennedy has not yet completed signature collection.