Presidential candidate Kennedy qualifies for Colorado ballot

Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally at Legends Event Center on Dec. 20, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified to appear on the Colorado ballot in November as an unaffiliated presidential candidate, the Colorado secretary of state’s office announced Thursday.

Kennedy and running mate Nicole Shanahan submitted a petition with 21,702 valid signatures. They needed 12,000 signatures.

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The Kennedy campaign as of Wednesday said it had qualified or had collected enough signatures to qualify for access to the ballot in 42 states. It intends to be on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

“More than 50% of Americans now identify as Independents,” Shanahan said during a press conference this week. “There has never been a better opportunity for a third-party candidate to have success, especially with a unity ticket.”

In Colorado, there are almost as many unaffiliated active voters than registered Republican and Democratic voters combined.

The Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, has not yet qualified for the Colorado ballot. Democrats have not yet chosen their candidate, though it’s expected to be Vice President Kamala Harris.

Polls indicate that Kennedy has virtually no chance of winning the election, but he could draw support away from one of the major-party candidates. So far he appears to be attracting support in roughly equal measure from the right and left.

The Libertarian Party of Colorado intends to run Kennedy as its presidential candidate, but that plan is opposed by the national Libertarian Party.

Whatever the outcome of that dispute, Kennedy would be permitted to appear on the Colorado ballot only once.

“He cannot appear two times, nor can he appear with multiple affiliations,” secretary of state spokesperson Jack Todd said in a text.

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. senator and attorney general who was assassinated while running for president in 1968. He has been criticized for spreading misinformation about vaccines.

The election is Nov. 5.

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