AUGUSTA — President Trump’s re-election campaign turned in the signatures from registered Maine voters, a step needed to put his name on the state’s primary election ballot in March.
Trump is the first and may prove to be the only Republican candidate to turn in signatures to Maine’s secretary of state.
Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang have already filed signatures.
Party candidates have until Dec. 23 to turn in at least 2,000 voter signatures if they hope to appear on the March 3 statewide presidential primary ballot.
Sanders was the first candidate to turn signatures in on Dec. 2.
Trump finished second to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in Republican caucus voting in Maine in 2016 but went on to win the state’s 2nd Congressional District in the general election, making history and earning one of the state’s four Electoral College votes.
The Maine Legislature switched the state’s presidential candidate selection process this year from a local party caucus system to a statewide election, after widespread voter frustration over long waits or long travel times to participate in the process emerged in 2016.
Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas submitted the signature petition for the Trump campaign on Friday.
In a tweet, Kouzounas said supporters had collected more than 4,000 signatures for Trump, drawn from from all 16 counties.
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