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SALT LAKE CITY — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed a lawsuit against Utah's top election officials, alleging the state's Jan. 8 deadline to file for ballot access is too restrictive.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court against Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and Ryan Cowley, state director of elections, Kennedy's campaign argues the early deadline to file signatures violates his First Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. The complaint asks the court for injunctive relief to halt the state from enforcing that deadline.
As an independent candidate, Kennedy would need to collect 1,000 signatures and file them with the state between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8, 2024. Those signatures would need to be validated by the county clerks.
"No state in the history of the United States has sought to impose such an early date to collect, validate and file ballot access petitions to secure ballot access for the general election to be held on the far-off date of Nov. 5, 2024," the lawsuit states.
Kennedy — who held a rally in Salt Lake City on Thursday as part of an effort to collect signatures — called the deadline "on its face, a severe violation of rights ... for which the state of Utah has no compelling nor legitimate interest to enforce."
State lawmakers moved the deadline up from Aug. 15 during the 2022 general session, making 2024 the first presidential cycle with the early filing date.
"No federal court has ever upheld a deadline for independent presidential candidates to file nomination petitions or certificates of nomination in the month of January before the relevant general election," according to the lawsuit.
Henderson's office declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, instead issuing a statement to KSL.com saying: "We are reviewing the complaint, we have no comment at this time."
Paul Rossi, an attorney with Kennedy's campaign, told KSL.com Wednesday that Utah previously had an April 15 deadline, which the state acknowledged in 1984 was unconstitutional and ignored.
"Now they're trying to impose a Jan. 8 deadline, that disenfranchises voters," he said. "They have a right constitutionally to have somebody on the ballot that they might want to vote for and an early deadline truncates ... the process to such an extent that it actually impairs the rights of voters in Utah."
Rossi said the campaign has already collected several hundred signatures, but "the problem is we don't know how many are valid," and he said that process could take weeks.
"This is clearly unconstitutional and I'm pretty confident we're going to get the requested relief here," he said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeals to disaffected partisans during Salt Lake presidential rally
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appealed to those who are tired of the current two-party system during a campaign rally in Salt Lake City on Thursday evening.Without "expedited preliminary injunctive relief" from the courts on or before Dec. 7, Kennedy said he would be forced to contract with out-of-state professionals to circulate ballot petitions in Utah. Given that some signatures are voided, he expects he will need 1,500 to 1,600 raw signatures "at a total cost of between $7 and $10 per signature."
The lawsuit requests that the court enact an order giving candidates until Aug. 1, 2024, to file signatures for ballot access in Utah, and asks for attorneys fees and expenses related to the case.
Kennedy, a longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, is one of several potential third-party candidates in the upcoming presidential election. Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are currently expected to win the nominations from the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, and philosopher Cornel West is running as an independent.
The No Labels group has floated the idea of platforming a bipartisan ticket in the event that Biden and Trump are the major party nominees. A Boston-based group launched an online petition to draft Sen. Mitt Romney to compete on the No Labels ticket, though the Utah Republican and 2012 GOP presidential nominee has signaled he's not considering a run.
Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney has said she is considering an independent run on a unity ticket.
