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The bid by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make the ballot in all 50 states as an independent candidate for president came to Pierre Aug. 6 with the campaign announcing that it had submitted petitions with the Secretary of State’s Office.
The campaign turned in 8,000 signatures of registered voters, well above the 3,502 needed to make the ballot, it announced.
I’m proud to say Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be on the ballot in South Dakota,” said South Dakota volunteer leader Sarah Sturges in a release. “It’s been an honor to be part of this journey.”
The Kennedy family has historically had close ties to South Dakota Democrats. Democratic Sen. George McGovern was friends with John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, and the president was his uncle.
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Robert F. Kennedy won the Democratic primary in South Dakota on June 4, 1968. That evening, he called Democratic Party officials and activists who were celebrating the victory to thank them and congratulate them on running such an effective campaign. Kennedy viewed it as a big win because he beat South Dakota native and Minnesota Sen. Hubert Humphrey.
Within a few hours of making that call, Kennedy was shot by an assassin in California, which had also held its primary election. He died June 6.
But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not running as a Democrat, seeking instead to qualify as an Independent. He has been excluded from debates.
RFK Junior’s running mate is a tech entrepreneur
Kennedy and his running mate, lawyer and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan, are on the ballot in 16 states. The campaign has submitted signatures in 23 other states and has enough signatures in six other states. A Democratic Super PAC in New York has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to have him removed from the ballot in that state – one of the 23 where the campaign has submitted signatures.
Besides turning in petitions in South Dakota, the campaign also submitted signatures in Wisconsin and became certified for the Vermont ballot.
The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office will take a random sample of the signatures turned in here to determine if there are enough valid ones to qualify for the ballot.
“The process for validating these signatures is the same to that of ballot initiatives and other statewide candidates,” said Rachel Soulek, the director of the Division of Elections, in an email to The Dakota Scout.
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Under state law, the office must certify by the third Tuesday in August to county auditors the names of presidential and vice presidential candidates for the general election. That falls on Aug. 20 this year.
However, the Democratic National Convention will be held Aug. 19-22, so the final certification for the ballot could be pushed back seven days, which is also allowed in state law.