Kennedy’s Signatures Validated By NY State Board of Elections; Georgia Update

Robert F. Kennedy in Brooklyn on May 1. Photo by Jason Schott. 

Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy’s campaign announced on Wednesday that the New York State Board of Elections has found that it submitted 108,680 valid signatures for ballot access in the Empire State, more than double the 45,000 that were required. 

On May 28, on the final day of the petitioning in New York, On the final day of the petitioning, the Kennedy campaign turned in 135,519 signatures, a record for a presidential candidate in New York.

Volunteers carried 70 volumes of signatures into the New York State Board of Elections office in Albany. These signatures were collected during the six-week petitioning window, one of the shortest in the country, which began on April 16.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted this statement on X (@RobertKennedyJr) in May 28: “Even though the state of New York stacked the deck against us, we successfully collected and turned in 135,519 signatures today, three times the required amount to gain ballot access in the Empire State.”

The preliminary New York Board of Elections staff findings effectively guarantee Kennedy has more than enough signatures to appear on the ballot in November in New York, which, according to the campaign, "has the most difficult ballot access requirements of any state."

“We are excited but not surprised by the board of elections findings,” National Field Director Will Boothby said in a statement. “The people of New York want Mr. Kennedy on the ballot. We collected more than 100,000 signatures in six weeks — twice the requirement — showing New Yorkers clearly want an independent choice this November."

Please click here for our coverage from May.

GEORGIA UPDATE: Later on Wednesday, the Kennedy campaign announced that it has submitted the required number of signatures to gain ballot access in Georgia. Over 21,000 signatures were submitted on Tuesday, well more than double the 7,500 required.

“We The People of Georgia feel it's time for us to declare our independence from the two-party system,” Georgia State Director Taujuanna Ware said in a statement. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has what we need in a president. With him on the ballot, we’re one step closer to getting our country back on track.” 

The ticket, in which Kennedy is running with Nicole Shanahan as his Vice Presidential nominee, has now  submitted signatures for ballot access in 13 states, with Georgia joining previously announced Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Alaska, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Illinois, and Nevada. 

There are 10 states that Kennedy is officially on the ballot:  New Mexico, Utah, Michigan, California, Colorado, Delaware, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Minnesota, and South Carolina.

There are also five states that the Kennedy campaign has rounded up enough signatures for ballot access - Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, and New Hampshire.

Overall, the Kennedy-Shanahan campaign has collected the signatures needed for ballot access in 28 states totaling 379 electoral votes - 70 percent of the 538 total electoral votes nationwide.