U.S. Supreme Court Declines RFK Jr’s Request To Get Off Wisconsin Ballot
Kennedy has endorsed Trump, but only after applying to appear on Wisconsin ballot.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Legends Event Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore. (CC BY-SA 2.0)
With early voting underway in Wisconsin and a week before Election Day, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an effort Tuesday by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be removed from the state’s ballots.
Kennedy, an independent, was placed on the presidential ballot after filing paperwork on Aug. 6, which included the signatures of thousands of Wisconsin voters who wanted him to run. He dropped out of the presidential election less than three weeks later and endorsed former President Donald Trump. He then launched an effort to be removed from Wisconsin’s ballot.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission was the first to deny his request to be kept off the ballot; officials cited state law requiring anyone who files the paperwork be placed on the ballot. Kennedy filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court last week after other appeals failed at appellate and state Supreme Courts. His name had already been printed on ballots with some being mailed out as the effort took place. In-person early voting in Wisconsin also started last week.
Kennedy argued in his lawsuit that keeping him on the ballot violates his First Amendment right to endorse Trump. His attorneys had also argued that his name could be covered with a sticker, pointing to a state statute that allows clerks to do so if a candidate dies before the election takes place. Election officials warned voting machines hadn’t been tested with stickers and they could cause the machines to break.
The U.S. Supreme Court did not explain its decision to reject the request. The Court also denied Kennedy’s effort to be removed from Michigan’s ballot on Tuesday.
Three third-party candidates — Kennedy, Jill Stein and Cornel West — will appear on ballots in Wisconsin, a key battleground state, and are seen as potential spoilers in the presidential election because they could siphon votes from the major party candidates in what appears to be a very close race.
U.S. Supreme Court declines RFK Jr. request to get off Wisconsin ballots was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.
