The campaign of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces difficulty reaching the 2024 general election in Nevada, which will likely be a key swing state.
CBS reported this on Monday that the more than 15,000 signatures the campaign collected to get on the ballot in Nevada could be thrown out because Kennedy has yet to announce his running mate.
That will change on Tuesday, as the former Democrat will make the big announcement from Oakland, California — with millionaire Bay Area attorney Nicole Shanahan the most excited about potential vice presidential candidates.
On March 7, Nevada Deputy Secretary of Elections Mark Wlaschin sent a letter to independent candidates stating that “the individual must also nominate a nominee for vice president” when he declared his candidacy.
Kennedy’s current petition for state candidacy contains only his name.
The campaign of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces difficulties reaching the 2024 general election in Nevada, which will likely be a key swing state, ahead of Tuesday’s vice presidential announcement
A supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wears a “Nevada for Kennedy” button at a campaign event in Arizona in February. Kennedy’s troubles in Nevada show how difficult it is for an independent presidential candidate to gain access to ballots in all fifty states
A spokesperson for the Nevada Secretary of State’s elections division told DailyMail.com that independent presidential candidates must collect 10,095 signatures to appear on the ballot this year and that signature verification takes place at the county level.
The deadline for completion is July 5.
The spokesperson did not respond to an additional request for comment asking whether the office could say whether the signatures already collected are null and void.
A press release from the Kennedy campaign on Monday boasted that the campaign has already collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot in Nevada.
A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com about whether there are concerns that those signatures might actually be invalid.
The negative in Nevada shows how difficult it is for an independent candidate to win the right to vote in all fifty states.
Kennedy launched his campaign in April with the intention of entering the Democratic primaries against President Joe Biden, as he was a lifelong Democrat and the son of the late Democratic Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late Democratic President John F. Kennedy.
While the prominent anti-vaxxer’s campaign was gaining some traction, Biden was by far the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, so Kennedy announced in October that he would run as an independent instead.
That meant he only had to concentrate on the general election.
The move infuriated many of his family members, who have posed for photos with Biden in recent days to show their intention to support the incumbent president.
Without the support of a major party, Kennedy would have to spend a lot of time and resources getting votes in every state.
So far he has only had success in Utah.
The campaign claims he has enough signatures to get on the ballot in New Hampshire as well.
The Hawaii Office of Elections said Kennedy has the required signatures to create a “We The People” party in the state, the campaign said.
New Hampshire is expected to be a swing state, while Hawaii tends to vote Democratic in the presidential election, while Utah will vote Republican.
The Kennedy-associated super PAC, American Values 2024, had helped, but in February the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the PAC of a “voting access system.”
The DNC alleged that there was illegal coordination between American Values and the Kennedy campaign.
Kennedy criticized the DNC’s move, accusing the party of creating a distraction after the release of special counsel Robert Hur’s report, which characterized the 81-year-old Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, older man with a poor memory.” .’
“After yesterday’s incident, it’s understandable that they would want to draw attention to someone else,” Kennedy said. “It’s sad to see the party my family built crumble and burn.”
American Values 2024 previously said the PAC had collected enough signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot in Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and South Carolina.
Arizona, Michigan and Georgia are all battleground states, while South Carolina is the state Democrats chose to hold their first presidential primaries this year.