A Maine Superior Court judge has upheld a state decision regarding former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s eligibility for the March 5 primary ballot, concluding that he did not meet the required number of certified signatures.
Maine’s Director of Elections, Heidi Peckham, had previously stated that the Christie 2024 presidential campaign submitted only 844 certified signatures, falling short of the necessary 2,000 required for inclusion on the state’s primary ballot, as reported by CBS News.
Christie’s campaign had appealed this decision, arguing that it had collected 6,000 signatures when Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office made its determination. The campaign contended that the issue was a procedural one related to the review process of signatures and is currently under appeal.
Maine Superior Court Justice Julia Lipez, in her ruling on Thursday, stated that Christie’s campaign failed to separate petition forms by town, as instructed by the Secretary of State’s office, and did not provide enough time to submit multi-town signature sheets to the relevant municipalities before the November 20 deadline.
In response to the court’s decision, a Christie spokesperson expressed disagreement and stated that the campaign is “evaluating our options.”
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows emphasized the importance of upholding the state’s ballot access requirements and praised the court for recognizing the fairness and workability of Maine’s election laws. She stated that all candidates, including presidential contenders, must adhere to the law to qualify for the ballot.
Despite the setback, Christie still has the option to file as a write-in candidate, with a deadline for doing so set for the upcoming Tuesday, as confirmed by the Secretary of State’s office.
As a result of this development, calls for Christie to withdraw from the race and consolidate support around an alternative candidate to challenge former President Donald Trump, who leads the primary as the front-runner, have emerged.
The Christie campaign has been concentrating its efforts on the primary scheduled for January 23 in New Hampshire. It is worth noting that other candidates who have qualified for the Maine GOP ballot include Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and pastor Ryan Binkley.
