Supreme Court Refuses to Remove RFK Jr. From Swing-State Ballots

The US Supreme Court refused to order the removal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from presidential election ballots in Michigan and Wisconsin, rejecting a pair of last-ditch requests from the onetime candidate.

Kennedy, who now supports former President Donald Trump in his race against Vice President Kamala Harris, argued unsuccessfully that the two swing states are violating his constitutional rights by leaving him on the ballot against his wishes.

Officials in Wisconsin and Michigan said Kennedy’s Aug. 23 removal requests came too late under the laws of those states, where voting has already begun. In Wisconsin, Kennedy sought to have stickers placed over his name on millions of ballots that haven’t yet been distributed to voters.

The court turned away the requests without explanation, as is its usual practice with emergency matters. Justice Neil Gorsuch said he would have sided with Kennedy in the Michigan case. Lower courts had backed the states.

Kennedy, who dropped out of the race Aug. 23, has sought to have his name kept on the ballot in some states and taken off in others. Justice Sonia Sotomayor last month refused to place Kennedy on the ballot in New York.

The Wisconsin case is Kennedy v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, 24A399. The Michigan case is Kennedy v. Benson, 24A405.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

Peter Jeffrey

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