Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Remove RFK Jr. From Ballot in Two Swing States

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bid by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to have his name removed from the presidential election ballot in two key swing states.

After ending his independent campaign and backing Republican Donald Trump, Kennedy sought to withdraw from the ballots in Wisconsin and Michigan. He argued that remaining listed as a candidate infringed on his First Amendment rights.

The Two States

Officials in Michigan and Wisconsin said it was too late to remove Kennedy’s name from the ballots because early voting was already underway just days before the November 5 election.

The justices provided no explanation for their decision to reject the emergency appeal, though Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented in the Michigan case.

Third Party Candidates

The presence of independent and third-party candidates on swing state ballots could play a decisive role in the tightly contested presidential race. The Supreme Court had previously denied Kennedy’s attempt to stay on the ballot in New York, where his inclusion is unlikely to affect the outcome of the contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Kennedy has been trying to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states where he could act as a “spoiler” candidate and help Harris.

Efforts to Remove Name From Ballots

However, after suspending his campaign, Kennedy has urged supporters in states that most do not consider to be battlegrounds—such as New York—to still vote for him, believing that he “could still conceivably end up in the White House in a contingent election.”

Since endorsing Trump, Kennedy has been working to withdraw from the ballots in seven key swing states. Wisconsin and Michigan are the final states where his name is still expected to appear.

In Michigan, Kennedy initially secured a victory in an appeals court. But judges ultimately ruled that he had missed the deadline to withdraw as the candidate of the Natural Law Party, which had sought to keep him on the ballot.

In Wisconsin, courts ruled that once qualified candidates file nomination papers, their names must remain on the ballot unless they die. Officials also determined that a proposed workaround to cover Kennedy’s name with stickers was not feasible.

New York officials previously removed Kennedy’s name because he allegedly listed an invalid address when applying to appear on the ballot. Several lower courts rejected appeals from Kennedy seeking to force his name to appear. Kennedy’s legal team eventually appealed to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who referred the matter to the full Court.

In a brief order last month, the Court denied Kennedy’s emergency appeal without explanation, effectively ending any hopes of his name being on New York’s ballot.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.