Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes questions from media after his campaign rally at Legends Event Center on December 20, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. | Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took his fight Friday to get his name off the November ballot in Michigan to the U.S. Supreme Court.
With 10 days before Election Day, ballots have been printed and 1.46 million ballots have already been cast via absentee and early, in-person voting.
Kennedy has endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump and suspended his campaign in August. Three days later, the Michigan secretary of state denied his request to have his name removed from the November ballot, a decision Kennedy’s lawyers have asserted is “unlawful” and harms both Kennedy and Michigan voters. However, Kennedy lost his bid in state court.
Millions of Americans flock to early voting, in person and via mail
Kennedy’s name remaining on the ballot could have harmful consequences for former Trump in states like Michigan, where the election is expected to be close. Kennedy, who ran as an independent candidate, has been engaging in legal battles in other battleground states like Wisconsin to either take his name off the ballot or, in the case of New York, a blue state, to get his name on the ballot.
Friday’s filing with the U.S. Supreme Court requests that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson remove Kennedy’s name from the ballot in the election.
“Allowing Secretary Benson’s unlawful conduct to stand without any recourse not only has dire consequences related to the November 2024 election, but also opens the floodgates for Secretaries of State across the United States to have unfettered authority to violate the law,” the filing reads.
In September, a Michigan Court of Claims judge sided with Benson saying that Michigan state law, “unambiguously states that a candidate nominated by a so-called minor party who has accepted the party’s nomination “shall not be permitted to withdraw.” Because Kennedy had been nominated by the Natural Law Party in April, the judge ruled that if Kennedy were to be permitted to take his name off the ballot, the party would be disenfranchised without a candidate.
Shortly after the Court of Claims decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Kennedy, saying that Benson is not applying the laws surrounding third party candidate withdrawals properly.
“[T]he Legislature made clear its intention … to restrict the ability of candidates seeking state offices to withdraw, but it did not likewise restrict the ability of candidates for the office of President of the United States…And without that restriction, defendant had no basis to deny plaintiff’s request to withdraw his name from the ballot,” the ruling said.
However, the decision was overturned shortly after by the Michigan Supreme Court. Kennedy’s Friday filing in federal court states that although the court states Kennedy couldn’t be allowed to withdraw, “notably absent from the order was any language instructing Secretary Benson to recertify the list of candidates to include Mr. Kennedy.”
“Despite a clear lack of authority, Secretary Benson recertified Mr. Kennedy as a candidate for President of the United States on the Michigan ballot. Secretary Benson’s conduct is unprecedented, such that review by this Court is absolutely necessary,” the Friday filing says.
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