Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s extended battle to win a place on New York's ballot this fall, despite the fact that he's no longer a presidential candidate, ended at the US Supreme Court on Friday. The justices declined, in a one-sentence order, to consider Kennedy's request that the court block New York decisions keeping him off the ballot, NPR reports. Two New York courts had found the independent candidate, who now supports Donald Trump, used an invalid address on the nominating petition. The Supreme Court did not note any dissents, per NBC News. Kennedy has been engaged in seemingly contradictory efforts concerning his possible appearances on November ballots, tying up election authorities. Kennedy still wants votes in noncompetitive states, such as heavily Democratic New York, per USA Today. The hodgepodge includes:
- Michigan: On Friday, he explained part of his state-specific plan to a Trump rally in Walker. "My name is going to appear on Michigan's ballot. I don't want you to vote for me. I want you to vote for Donald J. Trump," Kennedy said, per CNN. "That's the only way I'm going to get to Washington, DC, and do all the things to help end the war, end the chronic disease epidemic, to end the censorship, to end the surveillance, and all the other things that I entered this race to do." Trump has floated giving Kennedy a job if he's elected; Kennedy had been unable to land so much as an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Wisconsin: The state's Supreme Court ruled Friday that Kennedy's name will remain on the the ballot there, upholding a lower court ruling that candidates can only be removed from the ballot if they die. Kennedy had sued to have his name pulled, the AP reports. Maybe clerks could cover Kennedy's name on ballots with stickers, his lawyers suggested.
- Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada: The candidate has successfully removed his name in the four battleground states, per Politico. In all, the race is so close that diverting even a small number of Kennedy supporters to Trump could deliver a Republican victory. An independent or minor party candidate trying to drop off ballots is unprecedented and baffling, an expert said. "He's taken his name off some states that are not swing states. It's very mysterious," said Richard Winger of the Ballot Access News website. "I don't know why."
North Carolina is one of the states that's not amused by the back-and-forth. Kennedy sued there to get off the ballot and won on appeal. The state was stuck with the bill for reprinting ballots, and the whole thing delayed ballot distribution to absentee and overseas military voters. "This decision imposes a tremendous hardship on our county boards, at an extremely busy time," said Karen Brinson Bell, head of the State Board of Elections. (More
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