Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not appear on the New York state ballot as a presidential candidate after the Supreme Court refused to reinstate his name.
Mr. Kennedy was removed from the state's ballot after a lower court ruled that the independent candidate falsely claimed to reside in the state because his address in Katonah, New York, was not his permanent residence.
His lawyers argued in court filings that removing him from the ballot would deprive his New York supporters of the right to vote for him, and lower courts said no one was “misled.” pointed out that it had not been certified.
“The speech written in Kennedy's petition is of no importance to the voters or to New York,” Kennedy's lawyers wrote in the request, also stating that the independent candidate rented a room at a childhood friend's home on the 19th. He also mentioned that he had stayed there overnight. On a certain occasion.
New York Attorney General Letitia James's office, which is involved in the case, said it would restore Kennedy to the state's presidential slate even though the certification deadline has passed and absentee ballots have already been mailed. It opposed the emergency injunction, which was “unprecedented and extremely late.” .
“Relief would at least require the state to require county boards to invalidate the tens of thousands of ballots currently in the hands of voters and then (if necessary) prepare, proofread, print, test, and translate them. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood wrote to the justices that it would be “disruptive” if voters received multiple ballots. suggested that he would.
Kennedy suspended his campaign last month and endorsed former President Trump's bid for the White House. Since then, he has sought to remove his name in key battleground states and keep it on ballots elsewhere, a move that has sparked a series of legal challenges.
The independent candidate's effort to remain on New York's ballot marks the first time he has taken his case to the nation's highest court, but he is not the first to appeal to the justices. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency request by the Green Party to reinstate presidential candidate Jill Stein to Nevada voters.
