Chris Christie off presidential primary ballot in Super Tuesday state of Maine, per court ruling

Chris Christie is off the 2024 Republican primary ballot in Maine, a Super Tuesday state, after a judge affirmed the Maine secretary of state's decision that the former New Jersey governor did not submit enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, determined earlier this month that Christie lacked the number of certified signatures from Maine voters needed to qualify for the state's GOP presidential primary, according to CBS News. Christie appealed the decision, and a Maine Superior Court judge on Thursday issued a ruling siding with the secretary of state. 

"We appreciate that the court upheld the integrity of Maine's well-established ballot access requirements," Bellows said after the court's decision. "Every candidate, including presidential candidates, must follow the law to qualify for the ballot. We are glad that the court recognized that Maine law is workable and fair to all."

Maine Director of Elections Heidi Peckham had said earlier this month that Christie's campaign had submitted 844 of the minimum of 2,000 certified signatures required in order to appear on the ballot. 

A spokesperson for Christie said at the time that the campaign had 6,000 signatures and the issue with the secretary of state was "procedural."

Super Tuesday is scheduled for March 5, 2024, in more than a dozen states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

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