Candidates file in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Dec. 26 (UPI) -- While a deadline passed Wednesday, it won't be known for a while just which presidential contenders will be on Rhode Island's March 4 primary election ballot.

Local boards of canvassers said Republicans Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, along with Democrat Christopher Dodd, submitted enough signatures, The Providence Journal reported. They join Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani, who previously provided more than the required 1,000 validated signatures, according to the secretary of state's office, which must certify them.

Other candidates could still on the ballot because local boards have until Jan. 10 to validate signatures.

"This tells us who is in," Chris Barnett, spokesman for Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, told the Journal. "But it doesn't tell us who is out. It does give people an idea of who is close."

Democrat John Edwards was reported to have 942 validated signatures, while Democrat Dennis J. Kucinich had 759 and Republican Fred Thompson had 724. They were followed by Republican Duncan Hunter at 477, Republican Hugh Cort, 475, Republican Alan Keyes, 460, Republican Tom Tancredo, 392, Democrat Joseph Biden, 238, and Democrat Bill Richardson,116. Tancredo recently announced his withdrawal from the race.

Democrats Mike Gravel and Raymond Stebbins had no validated signatures.