Utah becomes first state to grant RFK Jr. ballot access

Utah became the first state to give independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ballot access, according to election officials.

State Elections Director Ryan Cowley said the independent met a requirement of 1,000 signatures to get on the 2024 presidential ballot in the Beehive State before an early March deadline, according to The Associated Press. 

It is the first state where the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist’s campaign met the requirements for ballot access, according to campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear, per the AP.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Kennedy said Utah is the first state in which his campaign is “going to register” and “get on the ballot.” He also criticized the recent decisions by Colorado and Maine to kick former President Trump off of the primary ballot.

“People ought to be able to vote for who they wanna vote for,” Kennedy said.

Concerns about how Kennedy could affect the 2024 presidential race have been raised among Republicans and Democrats, with both sides releasing messaging attacking Kennedy. 

That messaging included the Republican National Committee (RNC) sending a list of “23 reasons” he should be opposed and trying to portray him as a “typical Democrat politician.”

Kennedy initially launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination, but in October announced he would be running as an independent.

Although Kennedy has sought to play down his history as an anti-vaccine activist during his campaign, the news out of Utah comes after his campaign hired another leading anti-vaccine activist as its communications director.

Del Bigtree, the executive director of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), which is the country’s second-most-funded anti-vaccine organization, said in a letter to supporters that Kennedy is healing the divide among Americans “who censor vs. those who disagree.”

The Hill has reached out to Cowley’s office to confirm his ballot status in the state.

Updated at 1:57 p.m.