Days after a lawsuit was filed against Utah officials by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent candidate, a partial agreement was reached over the early filing deadline.
The lawsuit is centered around what documents called an "unconstitutional early filing deadline," where independent candidates must collect 1,000 valid signatures of qualified electors, with the certificate of nomination, by January 8.
In the lawsuit, it states that the deadline would cause economic harm as it takes time for signatures to be validated.
Though the lawsuit isn't resolved, Thursday morning, Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson's office filed a stipulation saying they would allow Kennedy's campaign to submit signatures past the January 8 deadline.
All sides of the case agreed to the stipulation, meaning signatures submitted after the January deadline will not be held against Kennedy.
Defendants agree and represent to the Court that, until at least March 5, 2024, they will not reject any unaffiliated candidate’s Certificate of Nomination to be placed on the ballot in Utah for the office of President of the United States, simply because the Certificate and verified nomination petitions were not filed by January 8, 2024," the stipulation states. "This action provides at least an additional 60 days for the Plaintiff Kennedy to file the Certificate and other necessary papers or for the parties to litigate or otherwise resolve the present dispute."
