The campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has turned in its petitions to place Sanders on Maine’s presidential primary ballot in March.

Sanders’ campaign announced Monday it submitted more than 2,800 signatures from Maine voters who support the candidacy of the U.S. senator from Vermont.

Maine will be holding a statewide primary election on March 3, following a change by the Legislature to state election law in 2019. The state previously held party caucuses to select candidates for presidential nominations.

In 2016 Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats in Washington,  easily won the support of Maine Democrats in party caucus elections — earning 64 percent of the vote to Hillary Clinton’s 36 percent.

Sanders’ campaign said it collected 2,800 valid voter signatures in a single day, well beyond the 2,000 signatures required to place candidate on the primary ballot and just 200 signatures shy of the maximum amount allowed.

The Sanders campaign was the first to file nominating petitions, said Kristen Muszynski, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s Office.