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Whitfield, along with Gary Fults, filed a lawsuit on April 27, 2020, arguing that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state's ballot access laws made it impossible for them to collect enough signatures by the deadline on May 1, 2020. U.S. District Judge Kristine Gerhard Baker ruled against the lawsuit, saying that though the pandemic had hindered their ability to collect signatures, "the Court determines that, although not trivial, this burden cannot be characterized as severe." Fults and Whitfield filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Their motion to expedite and for an injunction pending appeal was rejected on July 23, 2020. They filed a renewed expedite on July 28, 2020, but the hearing was delayed until after the November 3, 2020, election, meaning they remained off the ballot for that election.
