Shenna Bellows Rules Cornel West Eligible to Appear on Maine’s Presidential Ballot

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) has ruled that independent presidential candidate Cornel West will be allowed to appear on the state’s ballot this November.

Bellows decision came in response to a left-wing legal effort to have West removed from the ballot over allegations of significant impropriety with the signatures his campaign collected in order to get him qualified to participate in the election.

Although Secretary Bellows explained that she found some signatures were gathered fraudulently, West’s campaign still submitted enough valid ones to qualify for a spot on the ballot.

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(D) campaign in 2020 — against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s petition to appear on the ballot, but this was subsequently withdrawn in advance of Wednesday’s hearing.

[RELATED: RFK, Cornel West’s Access to Maine’s Presidential Ballot Challenged Over Fraud Allegations]

These challenges reportedly appear to be part of a broader effort by Clear Choice Action — a political action committee led by former 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.”

[RELATED: Hearing Held for Challenges to Cornel West’s Ballot Access in Maine]

“The challenges allege fraud by a circulator of Dr. Cornel West’s candidate petition and errors on the part of the municipal registrars and the Department of Secretary of State in reviewing the petitions,” wrote Bellows in her thirty-four page ruling.

“It is extraordinarily important to the public confidence in our elections that the process be fair and free from fraud and that election administration be accurate,” Bellows continued. “I have a responsibility to the voters of the State of Maine to ensure that the rights of voters are protected every step of the way from nominating candidates to casting ballots.”

“Our democracy depends upon the free and fair exercise of the constitutional rights of the citizenry,” she said.

“Upon review of the proceedings and the evidence before me, I conclude that some signatures were gathered fraudulently, and I reject the petition forms that contain those signatures,” Bellows explained. “However, the bad actions of one should not impugn the valid First Amendment rights of the many.”

“I have also reviewed in great detail the evidence presented by the challengers regarding alleged errors by local and state election officials in certification of the signatures,” said Bellows.

“While other states across the country may direct election officials to exclude voters from duly participating in our elections processes on the basis of scrivener’s quibbles, Maine does not,” she said. “Our election laws are grounded in encouraging full and fair voter participation, and the registrars acted appropriately in certifying signatures for voters that they could verify regardless of whether a voter signed with a nickname or dated the petition with the day and month only.”

“On the basis of the evidence presented to me at the hearing and the reasons outlined [in my decision], I therefore conclude that there are a sufficient number of valid signatures submitted by the Campaign for Dr. West to appear on Maine’s presidential ballot and otherwise reject the challengers’ arguments for invalidating the Petition,” Bellows concluded.

Bellows also addressed Berger’s allegations that West’s campaign submitted more signatures than is statutorily permissible. According to Bellows, “if 4,000 raw signatures are not sufficient to achieve the minimum required under [state law], it necessarily follows that 5,000 raw signatures is equally insufficient to take a candidate over the maximum.”

“The relevant number for determining whether the petition exceeded the statutory maximum is the same as the number for determining whether it fell below the minimum: the number of signatures determined to be valid by registrars and the Elections Division,” she wrote.

Click Here to Read Secretary Bellows’ Full Ruling

This decision may be appealed to the Maine Superior Court by any party within five days of this ruling’s publication.