Robert F. Kennedy Jr. formally filed his request Thursday with the Michigan Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court decision and remove his name from Michigan’s presidential ballot.
The case is on a super-fast track with the deadline looming to finalize the presidential ballot. The state’s Friday deadline allows local ballots to be printed in time to send to military personnel and other overseas voters.
Kennedy argues that keeping his name on Michigan’s ballot violates his free speech rights after he asked to be removed. Kennedy has suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. He is also trying to get his name pulled from ballots in Michigan, Wisconsin, and other battleground states where it could make a difference in tight races.
The unique wrinkle in Michigan is that Kennedy did not use a petition signature campaign to get on the ballot. Instead, he sought a convention nomination from the Natural Law Party of Michigan, a minor state party that has to win a certain percentage of votes to continue automatically qualifying for ballot status.
The Michigan Bureau of Elections determined Kennedy missed the cutoff date to remove his name from the ballot. A Michigan Court of Claims judge upheld that decision and said Kennedy cannot simply drop his name after seeking and accepting the nomination of the Natural Law Party of Michigan.
“Elections are not just games,” wrote Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates in a caustic opinion, and that the state “is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office.”
A decision by a three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel could be challenged by going to the Michigan Supreme Court and asking for immediate consideration.
