Cornel West cleared to appear on ballot in Maine, where ranked voting is in play

Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s secretary of state says independent presidential candidate Cornel West can appear on the ballot in Maine. The decision came Tuesday, about a week after the withdrawal of a challenge to another long-shot candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The presence of multiple third-party candidates on the Maine ballot is potentially significant because the state uses ranked choice voting. Bellows ruled that some signatures in support of West were gathered fraudulently but that there was a significant number of valid signatures for the candidate to appear on the ballot.