A federal judge has set a Tuesday court hearing on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s last-ditch request to be removed from Michigan’s presidential election ballot. That’s as local clerks are close to mailing out absentee ballots.
The Michigan Secretary of State said in a court filing that ballots are already being printed in 45 counties in order to get them in the mail to overseas and military voters. The state’s court filing said Kennedy’s legal team malingered past deadlines and it is now too late. The state also argues that Kennedy only turned to the federal court after losing in the Michigan Supreme Court, which should have been the final word.
The state called the late-in-the-game request from Kennedy ”both unjustifiable and baffling” and by law, bound to fail.
“Kennedy unreasonably delayed raising his claims before this Court, and the Secretary of State—indeed, election officials throughout the state—have been prejudiced by his delay,” wrote assistant attorneys general Heather Meingast and Erik Grill. “It is well-established that eleventh-hour requests for injunctions on the eve an election are disfavored.”
Kennedy has suspended his campaign and is trying to get his name removed from ballots in states where the race between former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is considered close. Kennedy has thrown his support to Trump but it is not clear how removing his name might affect the race.
Kennedy argues that he should be allowed to withdraw his name as President Joe Biden backed out of the Democratic nomination. The difference is Biden withdrew before formally accepting the Democratic nomination while Kennedy sought and accepted the nomination of the Natural Law Party of Michigan, which was voted on at a small party convention.
The state said Kennedy’s withdrawal would leave the Natural Law Party of Michigan without a nominee at the top of the ballot, which would affect candidates lower on the ballot. It would also make it unlikely the party would win enough votes to automatically qualify for ballot status in future elections. The state also said his request would disenfranchise Michigan voters who want to support the party platform and candidates.
U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood has scheduled the hearing for Tuesday at 4 p.m.
