Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been planning to file a lawsuit against the Nevada Secretary of State's office for nearly two months, CBS News has learned. after learning that his campaign should probably restart collecting signatures in the silver state.
In early March, the campaign announced it had collected more than 15,000 signatures in Nevada, but before that Kennedy had named a running mate, which state law requires to start the petition process for independent candidates.
At the end of March, the It was recognized by the Nevada Secretary of State's Office, however, that a staffer mistakenly informed the campaign that it did not have to pick a vice presidential candidate on the petition. However, in a statement to CBS News on Thursday, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said his office is prepared to take on Kennedy in court, given that his campaign received guidance from the clear statutes.
“Nevada has a rich history of independent and third-party candidates for office. Each of these candidates gained access to the ballot box by following the law. We look forward to seeing Mr. Kennedy's team in court,” Aguilar said.
With more than a month to collect new signatures, the campaign will likely run out of time to start over in Nevada if it pursues litigation in court and loses the case.
In a settlement letter dated May 23 written by Paul Rossi, the Kennedy campaign's lead ballot access lawyer, warned the secretary of state's office that Kennedy was ready to file a lawsuit. Friday unless the office agrees to settle with the campaign. Rossi offered to drop the charges and avoid litigation costs in exchange for the office validating the signatures.
Rossi proposed circulating Nicole Shanahan's name in newspapers across the state to correct the omission of RFK Jr.'s running mate. to the request. Also, anyone who signed Kennedy's petition can withdraw their support if they choose, Rossi offered.
“We are happy to discuss and resolve any details to reach an acceptable settlement of this unique factual circumstance,” Rossi wrote.
A similar case occurred in 2008, when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority petitioned the secretary of state's office to put an education and infrastructure funding initiative on the ballot. The Secretary of State's office determined that the petition was invalid because the form violated state guidelines, and that decision was later upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court.
Kennedy wasn't the only independent candidate who learned he would have 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 revealed his running mate, Melina Abdullah, a professor of pan-African studies in California and a chapter leader of California of Black Lives Matter. , according to the secretary of state.
“In early March, the Secretary of State's office sent guidance to all independent presidential campaigns that had filed ballot access petitions,” Aguilar said in a statement to CBS News. . “This guide highlighted the statutory requirements necessary for petitions to be valid. The guide was sent well before the deadline for submitting signatures, which has not yet passed. While some campaigns took the opportunity to submit petitions in our office, others did not.”
Before the letter of agreement, the secretary of state told CBS News that he hadn't heard from the campaign since March, when he first sent out a memo on voting access.
That's coming too a day after the Kennedy campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing CNN, President Biden, former President Donald Trump and their campaigns of violating federal election law by not inviting him to participate in the June 27 presidential debate.
