Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the Libertarian National Convention in Washington on May 24. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press

Maine election officials will hear arguments Wednesday from voters who say Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West did not gather enough valid signatures to appear on the state’s presidential ballot in November.

The challengers seeking to remove the names of the two third-party presidential candidates from the ballot filed complaints saying the campaigns violated a number of state statutes governing signatures on nominating petitions, including failing to have enough valid signatures.

The secretary of state’s office said a hearing on Kennedy’s nomination is scheduled for Wednesday morning, while West’s hearing will take place Wednesday afternoon. Both are running as independents.

Challengers have the burden of providing sufficient evidence to invalidate the petition, according to the state. A candidate needs 4,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

One of the challenges was dismissed by a spokesperson for the West campaign, who noted that the state already had combed through the petitions, resolved any concerns and conflicts, and still verified 4,978 valid signatures.

“The group challenging our petition is evidently driven by partisan interest,” West spokesperson Edwin DeJesus said in an email to the Press Herald on Monday. “We firmly reject their baseless claims. These allegations serve only to distract and divide. We believe in the power of ordinary working people to unite and reclaim our democracy from the grip of an oligarchy dominated by both major parties.”

The Department of the Secretary of State announced on Aug. 2 that both West and Kennedy had qualified for the ballot. The deadline for challenges was Aug. 8.

Cornel West speaks on Oct. 22, 2019, in Cambridge, Mass. Elise Amendola/Associated Press, file

The challenges appear to be part of a nationwide effort by Clear Choice Action, a group led by allies of President Biden, to prevent a third-party spoiler in what is expected to be a very tight presidential race. The Washington Post reported the group planned to “develop research and push storylines in the media” to discourage people from voting for third-party candidates.

Clear Choice Action told the Press Herald last week that it planned to file challenges on Aug. 8.

Similar challenges have been filed in Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois.

It’s unclear what impact Kennedy and West might have in Maine, which is one of two state’s that awards one Electoral College vote to the winner in each of the state’s two congressional districts and two electoral votes to the statewide winner.

A poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in July found 4% of Maine respondents said they planned to vote for Kennedy and 1% for West, compared to 48% for Vice President Kamala Harris and 40% for former President Donald Trump. The Pine Street State Poll found about 4% of those surveyed were undecided.

Topsham resident James Stretch is challenging Kennedy’s qualifications on 19 counts, including one argument that he should be disqualified for turning in too many signatures for the state to review. He also argues that many of the signatures violate statutory requirements, including signatures from unregistered voters and missing notary stamps. And he contends that the petition does not list the correct home address for Kennedy.

“(The petition) contains 5,852 signatures – 853 more than the statutory maximum – and is invalid for that reason alone,” Stretch wrote in his Aug. 8 complaint. “And it also contains too few valid signatures, because thousands of the submitted signatures violate the statutory requirements in one or more respects.”

Stretch is represented by Portland attorney David Kallin.

Kennedy’s campaign did not respond Monday to questions about the challenge.

West’s candidacy is facing two challenges, with similar allegations.

Portland resident Nathan Berger lists 16 specific challenges, including that the West campaign exceeded the maximum signature limit by 983 signatures, while also claiming that thousands of those signatures violate state statute. Berger also is represented by Kallin.

And Anne Gass, of Gray, and Sandra Marquis, of Lewiston, accused the West campaign of defrauding voters by telling them the petitions were to prevent “improper financial dealings by members of Congress and address corporate corruption.”

“Dr. West’s name was never mentioned and in at least some cases, apparently to conceal the true purpose of the petition, it appears that the circulator only showed them – and asked them to sign – the second page of the petition where the candidate’s name is not shown,” they wrote in their Aug. 8 complaint.

Gass and Marquis, who are represented by Augusta attorney Daniel Walker, point to similar concerns in Virginia and North Carolina.

DeJesus said those claims are based on “hearsay and supposed activities in other states.”

“These claims lack substantive proof and are an attempt to undermine our campaign without factual basis,” he said.