Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Files Lawsuit to Remove Himself from Wisconsin Ballot

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has initiated legal action in Wisconsin seeking to have his name removed from the presidential ballot. This move comes after the state elections commission voted in favor of keeping him on the ballot despite his request.

In August, Kennedy made the decision to suspend his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. He indicated that he would pursue the removal of his name from the ballots in battleground states. However, he reassured his supporters that they could continue to back him in other states where their votes would unlikely alter the outcome.

A similar lawsuit has been filed in Michigan, but a judge ruled this past Tuesday that Kennedy must remain on that ballot. Meanwhile, a pending lawsuit in North Carolina also seeks his removal from the ballot.

In his lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court, Kennedy argues that state law discriminates against independent candidates. He contends that the regulations favor Republican and Democratic candidates, drawing a significant distinction in how they can manage their presence on the ballot.

According to Wisconsin law, major party candidates must certify their presidential nominations by 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September preceding an election. On the other hand, independent candidates, such as Kennedy, are subjected to a different set of rules. They can only withdraw their name up to the deadline for submitting nomination papers, which was August 6 this year.

Once nomination papers are submitted, the law does not allow independent candidates to withdraw their names from the ballot unless they pass away. Kennedy submitted his papers before the stipulated deadline.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission recently voted, with a 5-1 majority, to approve Kennedy’s candidacy for the upcoming election. This decision came after Republican commissioners attempted to have him removed from the ballot, which ultimately failed. This approval allows county election clerks to begin the ballot-printing process to comply with upcoming deadlines for absentee ballot mailing.

In his lawsuit, Kennedy seeks to stop the elections commission from including his name on the ballot. He has also requested that the court place a hold on the commission’s recent vote regarding his candidacy.

A representative from the Wisconsin Elections Commission did not respond to inquiries related to the lawsuit.

Currently, Kennedy is one of eight presidential candidates slated to appear on Wisconsin’s ballot.

The participation of independent and third party candidates could significantly impact the election outcome in Wisconsin, a state known for its extremely close presidential contests. Historically, four out of the last six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been determined by margins as narrow as between 5,700 and 23,000 votes.

In 2016, Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee, garnered over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin, a number that exceeded Trump’s winning margin of nearly 23,000 votes. Some Democrats have attributed Trump’s success in Wisconsin that year, in part, to Stein’s presence on the ballot.