The United States Supreme Court on Friday (September 27) rejected the request from independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop his name from being removed from the New York State presidential election ballot.
On Monday (September 23), Kennedy’s campaign team, the super political action committee American Values 2024 supporting Kennedy’s campaign, and a voter who signed his petition jointly filed an injunction request with the Supreme Court, seeking urgent intervention to restore his name on the New York State presidential election ballot.
In a brief order, the Supreme Court rejected Kennedy’s request without stating any objections.
In mid-August, U.S. District Judge Christina Ryba ruled that the suburban address provided by Kennedy in his petition was not his primary residence but a “false address” he set up to maintain voter registration. Therefore, the judge ordered the New York State Board of Elections not to include Kennedy’s name on the ballot for the November presidential election.
Kennedy’s lawyers argued in court documents that removing him from the ballot would deprive his supporters in New York of the right to vote for him, and pointed out that the lower court did not find anyone was “misled” by the address.
After Kennedy’s lawyers submitted the request to the Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor requested New York State Attorney General Letitia James and other relevant parties in the case to provide a written response by Wednesday afternoon (September 25).
James’ office opposed the “unusual and especially late” emergency injunction, which would have placed Kennedy back on the state’s presidential candidate list, but the certification deadline has passed and absentee ballots have already been mailed out.
New York State Solicitor General Barbara Underwood wrote in a letter to the Justice that if voters receive multiple ballots, they would feel “confused.”
Kennedy suspended his campaign activities last month and endorsed former President Trump in his White House bid. Since then, he has been seeking to have his name removed from the ballot in key swing states while remaining on the ballot in other states, sparking a series of legal challenges.
This was the first time Kennedy applied to the Supreme Court to keep his name on the ballot as an independent candidate in New York.