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RFK Jr. Qualifies for His First 2024 Ballot in Utah

The political scion has collected at least 1,000 signatures, crossing the threshold to get himself onto Utah’s general election presidential ballot next year.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has met the 1,000-signature threshold necessary to propel him onto the presidential ballot in Utah, according to state authorities, making it the first state to offer the independent candidate as an option to general election voters. The development, first reported on Wednesday by Ballot Access News, was confirmed by CBS News. A Kennedy campaign spokesperson told the network that they would announce their ballot access status in Utah on Jan. 3. Kennedy, who is polling at 22 percent in national surveys on a potential three-way race, is focusing his efforts on leveraging himself onto enough state ballots to be a serious threat to both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, widely viewed as the race’s Democratic and Republican frontrunners, respectively. Every state has its own requirements for independent and third-party candidates to qualify for its ballot, with some benchmarks more difficult than others—South Carolina requires 10,000 signatures, for example. The Kennedy campaign is prioritizing ballot access efforts in seven states, according to plans shared with Politico last week: Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York and Texas.