Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing legal challenges in Nevada over his petition to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate due to the absence of a vice presidential candidate on his petition. Nevada’s requirement for a vice presidential candidate to be named in an independent candidate’s petition has been in place since 1993, and the Kennedy campaign is claiming that the Democratic Party invented a new rule to invalidate his signatures. Kennedy’s attorney, Paul Rossi, stated that the Nevada statute does not require a vice-presidential candidate to be listed on the petition and accused the Nevada Secretary of State of creating a new requirement with no legal basis.
An email exchange between the Kennedy campaign and the Secretary of State’s office revealed conflicting information, with the office initially stating that a vice presidential candidate did not need to be listed on the petition, but later acknowledging that the statute does require a nominee for Vice President to be designated. Documents requested from the Nevada office showed that Kennedy had only named himself on his candidate petition, in violation of the rules, potentially invalidating the signatures collected in the state. The office admitted that their employee had provided inaccurate guidance to the campaign but emphasized that it was the campaign’s responsibility to follow the statute.
Despite the error made by the Secretary of State’s office, they maintained that it was up to Kennedy’s campaign to adhere to the statute. Kennedy is currently only on the ballot in Utah, although his campaign claims to have collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in several other states. Kennedy plans to announce his running mate in Oakland on Tuesday. The campaign is threatening legal action against Nevada over the petition issue, with Rossi stating that they intend to depose the Secretary of State to uncover the origins of the alleged scheme by the DNC or White House officials. The Kennedy campaign is determined to fight against what they see as a corrupt attempt to prevent him from appearing on the ballot as an independent candidate in Nevada.
