Bartholomew County election officials say they have certified 340 signatures in support of placing independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Indiana’s general election ballot this fall.
Kennedy’s campaign claimed this week that he had secured enough petition signatures to gain access to the state’s ballot for his longshot bid in Nov. 5 general election. In a statement, the campaign claimed that county election officials across the stated had certified nearly 39,000 signatures, more than the 36,943 required to gain ballot access.
The campaign claims that it “has surpassed all its milestones to ensure the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”
The Kennedy campaign said it has collected the signatures needed for ballot access in 29 states, totaling 390 electoral votes, 72% of the 538 total electoral votes nationwide, and is officially on the ballot in 10 states — California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah.
The campaign also said it has submitted its signatures in 14 states — Alaska, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Nevada, Georgia and Indiana. It has collected enough signatures for ballot access in 5 states — Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, and New Hampshire.
Kennedy, 70, who has long claimed to be a victim of government and media censorship of his unorthodox views, has looked to grow his base of support among Americans disaffected with the Republican and Democratic parties, The Associated Press reported.
Kennedy failed to qualify for CNN’s presidential debate last month.
However, the New York Times reported in May that Kennedy is polling higher than any third-party candidate has in decades, with about 10% of registered voters across several battleground states, including 12% in Nevada and 10% in both Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Locally, Kennedy has raised more money among local residents than any other third-party candidate in at least several decades, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Kennedy’s campaign had received a total of $7,447 in contributions from residents of Bartholomew, Jackson and Jennings counties as of May 31, according to the Federal Election Commission.
The next highest was Reform Party nominee Ralph Nadar’s 2004 campaign, which raised $1,900 in the three-county area; followed by Reform Party nominee Pat Buchanan’s 2000 campaign, which collected $1,400 locally; Libertarian candidate Bob Barr’s 2008 campaign, which raised $1,350 locally; Nadar’s 2000 campaign as the Green Party’s nominee, which raised $1,000 locally; and Ross Perot’s presidential campaign in 1992, which raised a total of $336.
