Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign on Monday accused Nevada’s Democratic secretary of state of “corruption,” accusing election officials and the Democratic National Committee of colluding, election officials colluding, and election administration. He claimed that he is “concocting new requirements” for access to ballots in states that are currently being held. “There is no legal basis.”
At issue is that RFK Jr.’s campaign did not name his running mate in the ballot access petition it circulated in the Silver State.
Nevada law – Since 1993 – Requires independent candidates to “designate a running mate” when collecting signatures for ballot access in presidential elections.
The apparent mistake could force Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to collect more than 10,000 signatures to get on the state’s ballot in November to start from scratch.
“This is the epitome of corruption,” said Paul Rossi, the Kennedy campaign’s ballot access lawyer. stated in a statementclaimed that they had indeed followed the law.
“After successfully gathering all the required signatures in Nevada, the Democratic National Committee’s rogue team and their minions in the Nevada Secretary of State’s office added new requirements to the petition without any legal basis. They are making things up,” he added. “Nevada law does not require a vice president on the petition. This petition doesn’t even have a space for a vice president.”
Rossi claimed that “the state confirmed in writing on Nov. 14 that the petition does not require a vice president.”
“The state approved our petition in writing without the vice president on January 9,” he added.
Rossi said in a statement: Email from an employee at Aguilar’s office When asked by his campaign if he needed to name a vice president on the petition, he said, “No.”
The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office acknowledged that the RFK Jr. campaign was given incorrect information by officials, but noted that candidates are still expected to comply with state law.
“Earlier today, the office was made aware that the Secretary of State’s staff had provided inaccurate guidance to an independent presidential campaign,” the office said in a statement. stated in a statement Go to CBS News. “This was a mistake and will be dealt with appropriately.”
“The initial error and subsequent legal guidance were in no way intended to benefit or harm any political party or political candidate.”
“When a government agency communicates with the public and provides unclear or inaccurate answers to questions, Nevada courts will honor the agency’s statements if they follow them. We have made it clear that this is not allowed.”[s] This would be a violation of the law,” the office said.
Kennedy Jr.’s campaign is threatening legal action against Nevada’s secretary of state over the potential invalidation of ballot access signatures.
“This attack on the democratic rights and freedom of millions of Americans in Nevada to vote for independent candidates embodies the corruption and depravity that has come to define the Democratic Party,” Rossi said. Stated.
“This is the party that rigged the primaries against Bernie Sanders in 2016 and RFK Jr. in 2024. This year, multiple states canceled their own primaries and declared Biden the winner without voting. party,” he added. “The DNC cannot defeat us in a fair election, so they are spending millions of dollars in a desperate attempt to keep Kennedy off the ballot. They cannot face us in a contest of ideas. These are the last vestiges of a party that once represented the working people, but long ago abandoned them to Wall Street, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and the endless war machine. It is the biggest threat to the country’s democracy.”
RFK Jr.’s campaign demanded that any attempt to invalidate the signature “comply with a federal judge’s order” and Aguilar to “find out exactly which White House or DNC official concocted this conspiracy.” He said he intended to “remove” him.
Kennedy Jr. is expected to name his running mate on Tuesday.
