Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remove his name from certain ballots are failing in several key swing states.
Last month, the former Democrat suspended his campaign and announced his support for Republican candidate Donald Trump.
"In about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m gonna remove my name and I’ve already started that process, and urge voters not to vote for me," Kennedy said at the time.
Since then, his attempts have been thwarted in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and, most recently, Michigan.
“Kennedy filed a lawsuit Friday in Michigan’s Court of Claims against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, in an effort to withdraw his name,” AP News reports. “Michigan’s election officials had previously rejected Kennedy’s notice of withdrawal.”
In an X post addressed to Rudy Giuliani, who accused Benson of corruption and election interference, the secretary of state cited a statute in Michigan law that says candidates who are nominated and accept a minor party’s nomination “shall not be permitted to withdraw.”
On Tuesday, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher P. Yates denied Kennedy’s request to be removed from the ballot.
“Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office,” Yates ruled, per AP.
The outlet quoted Kennedy’s attorney, Aaron Siri, who said the judgment “upends ballot integrity.”
“We agree with the judge that elections are not games, and that is precisely why the court should have let Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. withdraw from the ballot,” Siri said.
Last week, the North Carolina Board of Elections rejected the We the People Party’s request to remove Kennedy as its nominee. After holding an emergency meeting, the board concluded the request was submitted too late.
“It would not be practical to reprint ballots that have already been printed and meet the state law deadline to start absentee voting,” the board said in a statement. “Approximately 2 million ballots statewide have already been printed with Kennedy’s name on them, and the first ballots will be sent to absentee voters in eight days.”
According to The Hill, Kennedy has thus far managed to remove his name from ballots in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
News Nation reports:Polling averages showed Kennedy at around 5% nationally before he suspended his campaign. Polling then suggested Kennedy supporters could boost the Republican campaign. According to the latest Decision Desk HQ polling averages from The Hill, both Kamala Harris and Trump have received slight boosts; 1% and 2%, respectively, since Kennedy endorsed the latter. It is unclear whether these numbers are a consequence of Kennedy suspending his campaign.
Kennedy’s attempts to withdraw from states where he would pull votes from Trump is a stark reversal from his uphill battle to put his name on the ballot.
The candidate’s campaign collected over one million signatures with the assistance of some 100,000 volunteers to ensure voters could support him in November.
“Independent ballot access is a labyrinth laced with a mine field,” Nick Brana, Kennedy’s senior advisor and ballot access director, said during a virtual July 31 press conference. “Oftentimes, the secretaries of state do not know their own rules, they will sometimes mislead you, some are very helpful. They hadn’t even produced the forms that were necessary until sometimes days or hours before we had to submit them.”
“The amount of challenges is truly incredible because this was not meant to be done,” he added. “It was meant to be a barrier to any kind of challenge to the entrenched big money duopoly.”
In a Sunday evening X post, billionaire investor Mark Cuban took credit for aiding Kennedy’s efforts to land on state ballots.
“You know who helped pay for the lawsuit that got RFKjr and [People’s Party presidential candidate] Cornel West on the NC Ballot? Me,” he wrote. “I’m not a fan of the two party system.”
Cuban explained that he regularly donates to the Center for Competitive Democracy, a nonprofit dedicated increasing electoral competition, according to its site.
Cuban claimed Kennedy’s North Carolina organization approached them for assistance with ballot access.
“We helped. No cost to them,” he said. “So I don’t feel bad that he can’t get off the ballot.”
“I don’t give money to PACs or Candidates or the parties,” Cuban added. “I give money to an orgs that helps candidates get on the ballot to compete with the two big parties. I’ve been doing it for YEARS. This is the first time I said anything because he dropped out a week after we got him on.”
