DES MOINES, Iowa — We are just 70 days away from the general election and the ballot has already seen numerous changes over the past few months.
By August 29th those presidential candidate changes will become official, and by September 3rd local candidates will also be finalized.
In order to get a campaign on the presidential and vice-presidential ticket in Iowa, candidates need 3,500 signatures. At least 100 of those signatures need to come from within 19 different counties.
The qualifications are the same in order to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Iowa.
A U.S. representative candidate needs 1,726 signatures, with at least 47 signatures from within half of the counties in the congressional district.
All of these qualifications must be filed by August 24th.
County elections must be filed by August 28th. A state senator needs 100 signatures and a state representative needs 50 signatures.
The most changes to the ballot are happening at the top of the ticket, which is the race that drives the most voters to the polls.
President Joe Biden was replaced by Kamala Harris, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an independent candidate, suspended his campaign.
However, RFK Jr. is still on Iowa's ballot.
That's because he vowed to keep his name on the ballot in most states that wouldn't sway the outcome. As of now, Iowa is one of those states.
RFK Jr. has until Thursday, August 29th to remove his name from the ballot. That can be done by notifying the Secretary of State's Office in writing.
If the campaign doesn't notify the Secretary of State by Thursday, RFK Jr. will still be on the ballot and eligible to cast a vote for.
However, that is unlikely to make any major changes unless the popular vote sways in favor of RFK Jr.
Historically, it is rare for electors to disregard the popular vote when casting their electoral vote which means they will presumably stay true to Iowa's candidate that wins the popular vote in the state.
As of Tuesday, August 27th, the Iowa Secretary of State's Office has not yet seen a written request to remove RFK Jr. from the ballot.