Representatives of former Harvard University professor Cornel West’s third-party bid for president told the secretary of state that the campaign’s decentralized nature likely contributed to petitioners allegedly exceeding the maximum number of petition signatures set in state law and people saying they were misled.

Cornel West. Elise Amendola/Associated Press, file

West representatives described the campaign as relying heavily on volunteers, especially in Maine, which allows anyone to collect signatures for someone trying to gain access to the presidential ballot and submit them to a municipality for verification.

Campaign Manager Ceyanna Dent said that the West campaign, unlike most other campaigns, does not have state directors or paid staff in each state, making it difficult to control what happens on the ground, or know how many signatures are submitted.

“We are a grassroots, people-powered campaign, so a lot of the petitioning process is decentralized and without state leads,” Dent said. “Our petitioners are everyday folk. They are working-class people.”

Dent and other West campaign officials were addressing Secretary of State Shenna Bellows during a hearing on two separate challenges to the campaign’s petitions to appear as a third party candidate on Maine’s presidential ballot.

A separate challenge to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s petitions was withdrawn on Tuesday for undisclosed reasons.

The challenges appear to be part of a nationwide effort by Clear Choice Action, a group led by Biden allies, 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.

“They are frankly the same exact challenges we have seen from these folks and their allies in at least a half-dozen other states,” said attorney Mike McCorkle, who represented the West campaign. “They are couched in part on insinuations and allegations about activities in other states that have not been borne up under investigation.”

It’s unclear what impact West’s candidacy will have on the presidential race in Maine, which uses ranked choice voting in presidential elections, minimizing the spoiler effect of third-party candidates. And West does not appear to be pulling much support in Maine.

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 with 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.

Portland resident Nathan Berger lists 16 specific challenges, including that the West campaign exceeded the 5,000 maximum signature limit by 983 signatures, while also claiming that thousands of those signatures violate state statute for having incorrect dates, duplicate entries, missing information and improper notarization.

“Dr. West submitted nearly 1,000 signatures too many,” said attorney David Fox, who represented Berger. “That should really be the end of the analysis.”

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

Attorneys representing Gass and Marquis presented at least three witnesses, who were told the petition was to prohibit stock trading by federal officials. They were all surprised when they were contacted by an attorney telling them they had actually signed a petition for West to appear on the ballot.

Falmouth resident Meryl Poulin said she and her fiance were approached after biking to the Shaw’s supermarket in Falmouth. Poulin said she waited outside with bikes and observed the petitioner approach several customers before approaching her.

“The circulator never mentioned Cornel West,” Poulin said. “I was shocked that was what I had done.”

McCorkle apologized to each witness and said the campaign did not intend to deceive people, effectively placing the blame on volunteer canvassers for not following the rules. But he also suggested that people should read any petition before signing.

Wednesday’s hearing lasted nearly four hours and included a detailed review of signatures the challengers claimed should not have been validated by municipalities or the secretary of state’s office.

Bellows did not issue a ruling on Wednesday. State law requires a decision within five business days of the hearing, which was left open until the end of Friday so the parties can address lingering questions and submit final arguments in writing.

Bellows’ decision could be appealed to Superior Court.

Bellows recently garnered nationwide headlines for ruling that former President Donald Trump was ineligible for Maine’s ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, only to reverse course after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a similar case that state officials do not have the authority to exclude a presidential candidate from the ballot.