RFK Jr. Appeals to Supreme Court to Reinstate His Name on NY Ballot

Washington — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seeking to have his name reinstated on the New York ballot despite having suspended his presidential campaign and endorsing Donald Trump. Kennedy, who was running as an independent candidate, was disqualified from the New York ballot in August after a court ruled that his connections to a listed address in the state were only for the sake of maintaining his political standing and voter registration.

This decision was further upheld in lower courts when Kennedy challenged it. In his emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, he argues that his supporters in New York deserve the constitutional right to vote for him, regardless of his campaigning status.

His legal team emphasized that the New York address he provided is insignificant to voters and state officials, claiming that his supporters were not misled by his residency status. This address is a property belonging to a friend who testified that Kennedy paid her $500 monthly starting in May, even though he reportedly only spent one night there.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is overseeing the emergency petition, has requested a response from New York election officials by the upcoming Wednesday afternoon.

In August, Kennedy announced the suspension of his campaign and stated he would withdraw from the ballot in ten states, including crucial battleground areas, out of concern that his candidacy would negatively impact Trump’s chances. However, Kennedy indicated that he wished to remain on the ballot in non-battleground states, encouraging those voters to still support him.

Since then, Kennedy has expanded his request for support for Trump to include voters in all states and sought to remove his name from ballots in more locations than previously planned. Currently, Kennedy’s name appears on the ballot in over thirty states, while he is not listed in nearly twenty others, according to CBS News.

This latest request is part of a greater trend as contentious election disputes have increasingly found their way to the Supreme Court. Recently, the high court declined a petition to place Green Party candidate Jill Stein on the ballot in Nevada.