Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will likely appear on Maine ballots in November after a challenge to his nominating petitions was dropped.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced that a hearing set for Wednesday had been canceled, with the challenge withdrawn by the filer, clearing what is likely a final hurdle to get on the ballot with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump in November.

James Stretch, who worked as a staffer on President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, didn't give a reason for dropping the ballot challenge in the one-page letter he submitted to Bellow's office earlier this week.

The likelihood that Kennedy will remain on the November ballot alongside Trump and Harris means Maine will use ranked-choice voting for the presidential race, as there will be more than two candidates.

The ranked-choice system requires voters to list candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gets 50% of the votes, the candidate who got the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated and re-tabulated until someone wins a majority.

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