Sacramento, California - Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that he has secured ballot access in California – the state with the most electoral college votes.

Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, will appear on 2024 ballot in California after receiving the backing of the state's American Independent Party (AIP).

"Ironically, the American Independent Party was George Wallace's old party," Kennedy said, referencing the notorious Alabama governor and failed presidential candidate who infamously supported "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

"It’s been reborn as a party that represents not bigotry and hatred, but rather compassion and unity and idealism and common sense," Kennedy said of the AIP.

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"When they learned about my candidacy, they had just drafted a new charter for their reborn party where they could use their ballot line for good, for helping Independent candidates to unite America without being blocked by the two-party duopoly."

Kennedy initially launched his 2024 bid as a Democrat before declaring himself an Independent last October. Running outside the two-party system creates significant barriers to ballot access, but the candidate says he is committed to seeing his name on ballots in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

So far, the Kennedy campaign has scored ballot access in Utah and Michigan and gained enough signatures to appear on the ballot in Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.

Kennedy has faced criticism for his anti-vaccine and pro-Israel views amid the ongoing assault on Gaza.