The Maine Secretary of State’s Office held a hearing Wednesday afternoon regarding the challenges filed against Cornel West’s petition to appear on Maine’s presidential ballot this November as an independent candidate.
West’s petition received two challenges, one from Anne Gass of Gray — a former legislative candidate and a member of the Gray Town Council — and Sandra Marquis of Lewiston and another from Nathan Berger of Portland.
A challenge was initially submitted by James Stretch of Topsham — James Stretch of Topsham, a registered Democrat who reportedly worked for President Joe Biden’s (D) campaign in 2020 — against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s petition to appear on the ballot, but this was subsequently withdrawn in advance of Wednesday’s hearing.
These challenges reportedly appear to be part of a broader effort by Clear Choice Action — a political action committee led by supporters of President Joe Biden (D) — to prevent third party candidates from becoming “spoilers” in what is expected to be a tight presidential race.
The Lewiston Sun Journal reported Clear Choice Action had told the Portland Press Herald that it would be filing challenges on August 8.
Berger’s challenge argued that West’s petition ought to be deemed invalid for having contained nearly 1,000 signatures over the statutory maximum. Berger went on to argue that West’s petition is also allegedly invalid because a significant number of those signatures that were submitted should not have been validated by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Gass and Marquis’ challenge to West’s petition is also centered on signature verification, arguing that it contains signatures “procured through fraud by its circulators.” They go on to allege that “at least some” of the circulators involved with West’s campaign “use[d] fraudulent tactics to coerce Maine voters to sign his petition.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, several Mainers who signed the petition to give West a spot on this November’s ballot testified that they did so under false pretenses. All three individuals who testified recounted similar stories of being told that the petition being circulated was in support of an initiative to prevent lawmakers from trading stocks.
Although all these individuals indicated on cross examination that they are registered Democrats, none reported ever having sought political office or being heavily involved in political activities.
Ceyanna Dent — Campaign Manager for West — was questioned at length about the campaign’s procedures for collecting and submitting signatures for ballot access petitions, clarifying that the campaign’s petition document is shared publicly as a PDF for use by volunteers where possible.
Dent also testified that the campaign did not pay anyone in Maine to collect signatures for West’s ballot access petition.
Alex Coronado — Organizing Director for West’s campaign — stated in his testimony that West’s campaign never hired anyone to collect signatures in support of West’s petition to appear on Maine’s presidential ballot this November.
Evidence was then introduced showing that New England Petitioning, LLC was responsible for gathering signatures on a number of the petitions submitted to the Secretary of State in support of West’s ability to appear as a candidate.
Coronado also indicated that the reaching the state’s minimum threshold for eligibility was of greater concern for the campaign when submitting signatures in Maine as opposed to remaining below the state’s statutory maximum, which he suggested was not a rule with which the campaign was frequently faced in its signature collecting efforts nationwide.
Closing statements from all parties must be filed with the Secretary of State’s Office by Friday, August 16 at 5pm.
According to state law, Bellows will be required to rule on the validity of West’s petition within five days of the hearing’s official closure. Any party may subsequently appeal the Secretary’s decision to the Maine Superior Court.
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