It’s been nearly two months since CBS News reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to file a lawsuit against the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office. After learning His campaign will have to start collecting signatures again in the Silver State.
In early March, the campaign announced it had collected more than 15,000 signatures in Nevada, but not before Kennedy named a running mate, which requires state law to begin the petition process for independent candidates.
At the end of March, Recognized by Nevada Secretary of State’s OfficeHowever, a staffer incorrectly informed the campaign that it was not necessary to nominate a vice presidential candidate on the petition. But in a statement provided to CBS News on Thursday, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said his office was prepared to face Kennedy in court, given that his campaign received clear guidance under the statute.
“Nevada has a rich history of independent and third-party candidates for office, each of whom has complied with the law and had access to the ballot. We look forward to seeing Mr. Kennedy’s team in court,” Aguilar said. said.
With more than a month left to collect new signatures, the campaign will likely run out of time to file a court challenge and restart in Nevada if it loses the case.
In the May 23 closing letter Paul Rossi, the Kennedy campaign’s main voting access lawyer, warned the secretary of state that Kennedy was prepared to file a lawsuit. Friday unless the office agrees to a campaign. Rossi offered to drop all charges and avoid legal costs in exchange for his office verifying the signatures.
Rossi suggested circulating Nicole Shanahan’s name in newspapers across the state to correct the omission of RFK Jr.’s running mate from the petition. Additionally, anyone who signed Kennedy’s petition could withdraw their support from her if they wished, Rossi suggested.
“We are pleased to discuss and work out all the details to reach an acceptable agreement on this unique factual situation,” Rossi wrote.
A similar example occurred in 2008, when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority petitioned the Secretary of State to place an education and infrastructure funding plan on the ballot. The Secretary of State ruled that the petition was invalid because it violated state guidelines, a decision that was later upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court.
Kennedy wasn’t the only independent candidate who found himself having to start over in Nevada. Independent presidential candidate Cornel West filed a new petition with the Secretary of State in April, the same day he unveiled his running mate, Melina Abdullah, a California State University professor of Pan-African studies and leader of the California chapter of Black Lives Matter. , according to the Secretary of State’s office.
“In early March, the Secretary of State’s Office sent guidance to all independent presidential campaigns that submitted ballot access petitions,” Aguilar said in a statement to CBS News. “The instructions highlighted the legal requirements necessary for a petition to be valid. The instructions were sent well in advance of the signature submission deadline and have not yet been passed. Some campaigns have had the opportunity to resubmit their petitions to our office, while others have not. “No.”
Prior to the agreement letter, the secretary of state told CBS News she had not heard from the campaign since March, when she first sent a memo about ballot access guidelines.
This also appears This comes a day after the Kennedy campaign filed a complaint. The Federal Election Commission accused CNN, President Biden, former President Donald Trump and their campaigns of violating federal election laws by not inviting him to the June 27 presidential debate.
