Reuters: Michigan On Friday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the United States Supreme Court to remove his name from the Michigan ballot, urging the nation’s highest court to intervene in his efforts to remain on the ballot in some states while dropping out of others.
An emergency request for an order was submitted by the former independent presidential candidate’s legal team, requesting that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson remove him from the ballot for the November 5 election. Kennedy suspended his mission in August and supported Donald Trump.
Kennedy has been to the Supreme Court three times to oppose ballot decisions made by state officials. He made a similar request to the court on Wednesday to have his name taken off the Wisconsin ballot. His attempt to get back on the ballot in New York was turned down by the Supreme Court in September.
When Kennedy decided to pull out of the race, he said that he would stay on the ballot in other states but withdraw from the most competitive ones. Kennedy has since withdrawn from the ballot in a number of Republican-leaning states and has urged all of his supporters to support Trump.
Benson refused Kennedy’s requests to withdraw, which led Kennedy to file a state court lawsuit. In September, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled against him.
After that, he filed a lawsuit in federal court, but on September 27, the 6th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, also agreed with Benson. The 6th Circuit stated in its opinion that 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” with the printed ballots.
Kennedy’s lawyers stated in Friday’s filing that Benson’s decision to keep him on the ballot violates his First Amendment right to free speech and “opens the floodgates for Secretaries of State across the United States to have unfettered authority to violate the law.”
Kennedy requested an injunction “ordering the Wisconsin Election Commission to cover his name with stickers” in his attempt to withdraw from the Wisconsin ballot.
