The Democratic National Committee filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign and an allied super PAC on Friday, accusing both groups of illegally coordinating and violating election law.
In the 11-page complaint, the DNC alleged that American Values 2024 paid Kennedy’s campaign $15 million worth of illegal in-kind contributions to help him secure ballot access “in the states in which it is most difficult for Mr. Kennedy to achieve that goal.” Some of those states include Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Colorado, Nevada, Indiana, West Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Texas.
To help Kennedy qualify for ballot eligibility across the U.S., the DNC claims the super PAC backing him will collect signature petitions from voters in each state.
“Mr. Kennedy has stated that his goal is to appear on the ballot in all 50 states and DC,” the DNC wrote in a letter to the FEC. “Mr. Kennedy and his campaign have also stated that this process is challenging and expensive. Rather than solving this problem by raising the necessary funds consistent with federal law, Mr. Kennedy and his campaign are trying to take the short cut of having American Values 2024 perform this campaign function for him.”
In order to qualify for a place on the ballot, Kennedy’s campaign must submit paperwork, collect signatures, and obtain certification from state election officials. The DNC argues, however, that American Values 2024 cannot help his campaign with the ballot-qualification process without doing so illegally.
“Put simply, to qualify for the ballot under state law, American Values 2024 must coordinate its activity with Mr. Kennedy and his campaign in a way that violates federal campaign finance laws,” the DNC wrote.
Last month, Kennedy first qualified to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot in Utah after meeting the minimum threshold of 1,000 signatures. So far, Utah is the only state where the third-party candidate has secured ballot access.
In December, American Values 2024 announced its plan to spend nearly $15 million to get Kennedy on the ballot in ten states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, and Texas. All of these states were mentioned in the complaint.
Kennedy repudiated the DNC’s claims in a social-media post on Friday, contending that he and his campaign have “complied in every regard with the letter and spirit of federal election laws with a transparency that is absent in every other campaign.”
“The DNC is accusing my campaign of FEC violations in the form of sharing state-approved petition formats — petition formats so secretive they are posted on our website for use by all our volunteers nationwide,” he posted on X.
In October, Kennedy simultaneously announced his independent presidential bid and dropped out of the Democratic primary race after he failed to gain traction against the party’s presumptive nominee, President Joe Biden.