RFK Jr. sues Utah over ballot access requirements

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign has sued Utah in federal court, asserting the Beehive State’s Jan. 8 deadline for submitting signatures to secure a spot on the ballot is unconstitutionally restrictive.

Utah law requires independent presidential candidates to submit 1,000 verified signatures by early January to appear on November’s ballot. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Kennedy’s campaign and a coalition of other plaintiffs argued the deadline violated his constitutional rights.

“The current deadline is the earliest deadline ever sought to be imposed on independent presidential candidates in the modern era,” the complaint reads. “No federal court has ever upheld a January deadline (for independent presidential candidates).”

In the 2020 election cycle, Utah’s deadline for independent presidential candidates to submit signatures was Aug. 17. That date was accelerated to Jan. 8 when the Legislature moved the filing period for all candidates to the first week in January.

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/12/05/rfk-jr-sues-utah-over-ballot/