Rhode Island voters will see seven presidential tickets on the state ballot after the Secretary of State’s office confirmed this month that independent electors associated with five campaigns submitted enough valid signatures to qualify.
According to the Rhode Island Department of State, four complete slates of electors and one standalone elector filed over 1,000 valid signatures. These include slates for the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the now-suspended campaign of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While the list does not include specific candidate names, it is likely that the Green, Libertarian, and Party for Socialism and Liberation slates correspond with their respective nationally nominated tickets.
Tony Jones, who collected signatures as the sole elector for the Party Party of Rhode Island, also qualified. Jones previously told Independent Political Report that the Party Party’s goal is to earn 5% of the vote through the presidential race, which would secure official party recognition by the state. Currently, Rhode Island only recognizes the Democratic and Republican parties.
The Rhode Island Department of State confirmed to IPR on Thursday that the Party Party of Rhode Island’s ticket consists of Robby Wells, a former football coach and previous presidential candidate, as its presidential nominee, with Jones as its vice presidential nominee. In addition to his presidential campaign, Wells is also on the ballot as an independent candidate for Virginia’s sixth congressional district.
These five campaigns join those of Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris, whose electors initially qualified by collecting a similar 1,000 valid signatures ahead of their respective party primaries earlier this year.
Notably, the independent campaign of Shiva Ayyadurai also attempted to qualify three electors. However, it appears that the campaign did not return its petitions, as no signatures were recorded or verified by the state.
Editorial Note: Tony Jones has previously contributed to Independent Political Report.
Stein is the Green Party nominee
Robby Wells is the model of a perennial candidate. He has run for every office, under every party, on every platform imaginable. He changes his policies more often than he changes his shirt. As such, the Party Party of Rhode Island should be a perfect match for him: https://www.partyparty.vote/objectives.html