Chris Christie, former Republican Governor of New Jersey and a GOP Presidential candidate, has encountered a significant setback in his 2024 presidential campaign.
Christie will not be listed on the Maine primary election ballot due to his failure to secure the required number of in-state petition signatures, UPI reported.
To qualify for the ballot in Maine’s March 5, 2024, primary election, a candidate must gather 2,000 verified in-state signatures. However, state officials announced on Saturday that Christie’s campaign fell short of this threshold.
“The deadline for presidential candidates to submit the necessary signatures for the March 5, 2024 Primary Election ballot was at 5 p.m. on [Friday], according to Maine’s Secretary of States website.
According to a letter obtained by CBS News from Maine’s Director of Elections, Heidi M. Peckham, Christie’s campaign managed to submit only “844 names certified by municipal registrars.”
It’s mandatory for candidates to have their signatures certified by municipal clerks before presenting them to the Secretary of State’s office by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.
Christie now has a five-day window to challenge this decision in the Maine Superior Court.
In addition, any registered voter in Maine has the right to file a challenge against the validity of a primary petition before 5 p.m. on December 8, 2023.
Despite the shortfall, a spokesperson for Christie’s campaign insisted to CBS News that the campaign had collected and submitted over 6,000 signatures. The spokesperson attributed the issue to a procedural error in the signature review process and confirmed that the matter is under appeal.
Below is the list of candidates that have submitted the required 2,000 signatures from Maine voters:
Democrats:
Dean B. Phillips
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Republicans:
Donald J. Trump
Doug Burgum
Nikki R. Haley
Ron DeSantis
Ryan L. Binkley
Vivek G. Ramaswamy
The post Chris Christie Excluded from Maine’s GOP Primary Ballot for 2024 Election, Fails to Meet Requirements appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.