Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a last-ditch federal lawsuit Thursday in an effort to get his name off Michigan’s presidential ballot. That’s as local clerks are already finalizing ballots for printing.
Kennedy exhausted his appeals in Michigan courts before turning now to federal courts -- even though the state’s legal deadline to get ballots to printers is passed. A spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told Michigan Public Radio the filing will not change current plans.
“Clerks are currently in the process of printing ballots to ensure absentee ballots will be delivered to voters by the federal deadlines,” said Angela Benander. She said those deadlines ensure absentee ballots are in the mail to overseas and military voters in time for them to be returned and counted.
The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday held Kennedy’s name would remain on the ballot, which settled the matter in state courts.
Kennedy has had mixed results in having his name stricken from ballots in states where he has already qualified. He suspended his campaign last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
Michigan Secretary of State said Kennedy waited until it was too late to withdraw as the nominee of the Natural Law Party of Michigan. Kennedy sought and accepted the minor party nomination as a way to get on the Michigan ballot. Withdrawing now would leave the party without a presidential candidate.
But in the lawsuit filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for Michigan’s eastern district, Kennedy argued the state is violating his constitutional freedom of speech and freedom of association rights.
“Keeping Mr. Kennedy off the ballot will also cause no harm to the public,” said Kennedy’s filing. “Conversely, leaving Mr. Kennedy’s name will serve only to mislead voters, upend election and ballot integrity. …”
In the filing, Kennedy also complained that he is being held to a different standard than President Joe Biden, who exited the presidential race on July 21 and cleared the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to be nominated.
But there is a critical distinction. Biden was in the race and the presumptive Democratic nominee prior to stepping aside. But he was never formally nominated and, thus, never accepted the nomination.
Harris was waiting in the wings when Biden withdrew his name from consideration following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. She was formally nominated by the Democratic National Convention on August 6th, which placed her on Michigan’s ballot.
The state will now have an opportunity to respond to Kennedy’s lawsuit and motion to remove his name. But the court does not have to accept the case or take any other action.
