RFK Jr. won't give up fight to get removed from Michigan ballot, appeals to 6th Circuit
LANSING — Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has appealed to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in his ongoing efforts to get his name removed from Michigan's Nov. 5 ballot.
Kennedy's action Friday follows rejection of his claims by the Michigan Supreme Court and a federal judge in Detroit.
Kennedy, a member of one of the nation's most prominent Democratic families, suspended his campaign Aug. 23 and threw his support to former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. Since then, he's been attempting to get his name removed from presidential ballots, especially in battleground states such as Michigan, on the theory that voters who can't cast a ballot for him are more likely to vote for Trump than for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat running for president.
But Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson argued that by securing his spot on the Michigan ballot as the convention-selected nominee of the state's Natural Law Party, Kennedy has no legal grounds to remove his name and leave that party without a candidate.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered Kennedy's name removed from the ballot, but the Michigan Supreme Court, on which Democratic nominees hold a 4-3 edge, reversed that ruling in a split decision.
Kennedy then went to federal court, where U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, also ruled against him.
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Hood said Kennedy can't take the same arguments to federal court that he already lost within state court. She also said he dragged his feet too much in making his appeals. As of earlier this week, more than 90% of Michigan ballots had already been printed, and state officials said it would cost at least $500,000 to redo them.
Saturday is the deadline for county clerks to deliver absentee ballots to local clerks. Absentee ballots must be available to the general public by next Thursday, according to information on the website of the Michigan Secretary of State's Office.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: RFK Jr. resumes fight to get off Mich. ballot, appeals to 6th Circuit