Cornel West cleared to appear on Maine ballot

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West has been cleared to appear on the ballot in Maine as the long-shot hopeful attempts to get on as many state ballots as possible. 

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled Tuesday following challenges to the validity of some of West’s signatures his campaign turned in that some were gathered fraudulently, but enough were valid for West to qualify for the ballot. 

The two challenges alleged that a circulator of one of West’s petitions committed fraud, and local and state officials made errors in their reviews to accept them. 

“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 said in her decision. “However, the bad actions of one should not impugn the valid First Amendment rights of the many.” 

The secretary of state also ruled some signatures in which a voter signed with a nickname or only dated it with the day and month were appropriately certified. 

West’s inclusion on the ballot in Maine is particularly notable because of the state’s ranked-choice voting system, in which voters rank candidates in order of their preference. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are allocated based on those voters’ second choice. 

The process continues until one candidate wins a majority. 

West, an academic and activist, is running as an independent to the left of the Democratic ticket and has spurred some fears among Democrats that he could pull votes away from Vice President Harris. But in ranked choice, possible supporters of West could rank him first and then choose the vice president, who rose to the top of the ticket after President Biden stepped aside, second for her to get their votes if West is cut.

The independent candidate has gotten on the ballot in about a dozen states, but he has struggled to gain much traction. He has received about 1 percent in most polling. 

The Associated Press contributed.