🤯 Have you seen our AI stock pickers’ 2024 results? 84.62%! Grab November’s list now.Pick Stocks with AI

RFK Jr asks US Supreme Court to remove his name from Michigan ballot

Published 10/25/2024, 05:57 PM
Updated 10/25/2024, 06:15 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign stop at manufacturer FALK Production in Walker, Michigan, U.S. September 27, 2024.  REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to strip his name from the ballot in Michigan, once again pressing the nation's highest judicial body to intervene in his fights to stay on the ballot in some states while dropping off others.

Lawyers for the former independent presidential candidate filed an emergency request for an order requiring Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to remove him from the ballot for the upcoming Nov. 5 presidential election. Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Donald Trump.

It is Kennedy's third trip to the Supreme Court opposing state officials' ballot decisions. On Wednesday he similarly asked the court to remove his name from the ballot in Wisconsin. In September, the Supreme Court rejected his bid to be restored to the ballot in New York.

When Kennedy suspended his campaign, he pledged to withdraw in the most closely contested states, but remain on the ballot elsewhere. Kennedy has since urged his supporters everywhere to back Trump and has withdrawn from the ballot in a number of Republican-leaning states.

Benson rejected Kennedy's requests to withdraw, prompting him to sue in state court. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled against him in September.

He then sued in federal court, but the Cincinnati, Ohio- based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals likewise sided with Benson on Sept. 27. With the ballots printed, Kennedy "does not explain how to unring the bell at this juncture without great harm to voting rights and the public's interest in fair and efficient election administration," the 6th Circuit said in its opinion.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign stop at manufacturer FALK Production in Walker, Michigan, U.S. September 27, 2024.  REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

In Friday's filing, Kennedy's lawyers said Benson's action keeping him on the ballot infringes on his right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, and "opens the floodgates for Secretaries of State across the United States to have unfettered authority to violate the law."

In his bid to withdraw from Wisconsin's ballot, Kennedy asked the justices for an injunction "ordering the Wisconsin Election Commission to cover his name with stickers."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.