Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Campaign Forms New Parties in Six States to Ease Ballot Access Requirements

On Tuesday afternoon, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that his campaign is actively organizing several new political parties in key states to assist in gaining ballot access for his independent presidential campaign.

According to a recent press release from the Kennedy campaign, he is organizing political parties in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas to help with ballot access requirements. In the first five states, Kennedy is pursuing ballot access through a newly formed organization known as the “We the People” party, while in Texas, he is doing so through the recently established “Texas Independent Party.”

Kennedy explains on his website that he opted to use the “We the People” moniker as it consists of the first three words of the U.S. Constitution and that his choice of words symbolizes that the government draws its power from the people.

The campaign estimates that by forming new parties, the number of signatures needed to get him on the ballot in every state has “been reduced by about 330,000, a third of the total needed nationwide.”

“Most states offer independent presidential candidates two methods of achieving ballot access — as an individual candidate or as the nominee of a new party. The two processes often require different numbers of signatures,” the Kennedy campaign explained about the choice to form new parties. “In most states, the individual candidate process requires fewer signatures. However, in some states, the party ballot access requires fewer signatures and is the most direct path to ballot access.”

In addition to creating new parties, the Kennedy campaign is also actively seeking ballot access as an independent in ten states. The Ballot Access HQ map, an interactive resource by the Kennedy campaign to track progress with ballot access, implies that in the remaining states where he isn’t actively seeking ballot access or forming new parties, Kennedy is either awaiting the selection of his vice-presidential candidate or still waiting for the signature petitioning period to open.

As of now, Kennedy has achieved ballot access in Utah, which is the only state where he has done so to date.

Kennedy is not the first candidate to organize new parties to ease ballot access requirements. For example, several historically high-profile independent candidates, including Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, and John B. Anderson, either created new parties or utilized existing state-specific party lines to support their campaign efforts in addition to running as independents. For instance, Nader used the Peace & Freedom Party line in California, Perot organized the No-Party Party in Alaska, and Anderson used the Liberal Party of New York line.

In a more recent example, fellow 2024 independent candidate Dr. Cornel West successfully gained ballot access in Alaska thanks to the Aurora Party, a statewide organization formed several months ago. Archived records of the Aurora Party’s online presence strongly imply that its primary purpose was to put West on the general election ballot. However, it has not been officially stated as such.

Readers of Independent Political Report can read the full press release on the official Kennedy campaign website here.