Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified for Colorado’s general election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate after turning in the required number of petition signatures, election officials said Thursday — but leaders of the state’s Libertarian Party still want to nominate him as their own, too.

Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, submitted 21,702 valid signatures, far more than the 12,000 needed, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said.

Things could get complicated in coming weeks, however, because the Colorado Libertarians told Colorado Politics on Friday that they intend to proceed with plans to designate Kennedy and Shanahan as the minor political party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees on state ballots after earlier deciding to reject the ticket nominated by the National Libertarian Party.

That’s despite the national party already having placed its presidential and vice presidential nominees Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat on Colorado’s ballot, over objections from the state party.

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Colorado law prohibits listing a candidate twice on the same ballot, as an independent and as the Libertarian nominee, for instance. State law also doesn’t allow a candidate to run on multiple party lines, a practice known as fusion voting, which is permitted in several states.

After Oliver and ter Maat won the party’s nomination at the Libertarians’ national convention in May, the Colorado Libertarians’ board voted against submitting paperwork naming them to the November ballot after determining the pair does not share the party’s core values. Among their transgressions, Libertarians said, are Oliver’s practice of wearing a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic and his support for non-surgical gender-affirming care for minors.

In early July, the Colorado Libertarians’ board voted to nominate Kennedy and Shanahan instead, after reaching what the state party called a “groundbreaking partnership” with Kennedy, who signed a pledge to abide by a list of the party’s positions. The following week, Kennedy entered into a joint fundraising agreement with the national Libertarian Party, sparking protests from some party members who complained that the Libertarians were selling out their principles by aligning with Kennedy, a former Democrat who fell short when he sought the national Libertarian presidential nomination this spring.

Before the Colorado Libertarians could turn in documents to the Secretary of State’s Office putting Kennedy and his running mate on the ballot, however, Caryn Ann Harlos, a Douglas County resident and the national Libertarian Party’s secretary, filed forms that named Oliver and ter Maat as the party’s nominees. That drew a rebuke from the national party’s chair, Angela McArdle, who told Harlos that she lacked the authority to submit the forms. Still, within days, Oliver and ter Maat sent in documents accepting the state ballot designation.

State election officials consider Oliver and ter Maat the party’s nominees. As of Thursday, Kennedy is slated to appear on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.

“In the absence of a submission of a withdrawal form from either candidate, our office must proceed with placing Mr. Oliver and Mr. ter Maat on the Colorado ballot as the Libertarian Party candidates for President and Vice-President,” wrote Caleb Thornton, the legal, policy and rule making manager at the Colorado Department of State, in an email obtained by Colorado Politics.

Added Thornton: “The candidate paperwork we have received for the Libertarian Party is complete.”

A spokeswoman for the national Libertarian Party agreed, adding in an email to Colorado Politics that the only way under Colorado law for candidates to remove their names from the ballot is by filing a formal letter.

“Oliver and ter Maat have no plan to withdraw from the race and Kennedy has gathered enough signatures to appear on the ballot as an Independent,” said Amber Howell, the national party’s media director.

That hasn’t deterred the Colorado Libertarians’ board, who plan to finalize their formal nomination of Kennedy and Shanahan on Aug. 12 at a vacancy committee meeting in Denver. Party officials called that meeting last month after determining their initial vote to nominate the two candidates — held during a regular board meeting — wasn’t sufficient.

“If the nominating committee selects RFK Jr. for our ballot, we remain committed to exploring all avenues to ensure that occurs,” said Jordan Marinovich, the state Libertarian Party’s communications director, in an email.

Nothing is set in stone until Sept. 6, election officials cautioned. That’s the deadline for political parties and candidates to submit paperwork to appear on the ballot, which is scheduled to be certified on Sept. 9.

The Kennedy campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Harlos asked a judge this week to prohibit the state Libertarians from nominating Kennedy at this month’s meeting in a lawsuit filed in Denver District Court. In addition to an injunction, she’s seeking a temporary restraining order to block the state party from going rogue, citing national party bylaws she says only authorize nominating a presidential ticket at the Libertarians’ national convention.

“We don’t want to play this game anymore,” she told Colorado Politics. “We just want to promote our candidate.”