The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Monday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the battleground state’s presidential ballot in November, reversing a ruling from a lower court that had agreed to remove him last week.
The high court’s majority wrote in its order that Kennedy, who ended his independent White House bid last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, did not point to a specific “source of law” that called on the state to take him off the ballot.
As a third-party presidential candidate, Kennedy had fought to secure ballot access in the key swing state, but sought to remove himself after dropping out in hopes of avoiding playing a spoiler role in the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. After Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said it was too late to remove Kennedy from the ballot, he went to court in pursuit of his removal.
Kennedy’s legal efforts delayed the start of election officials sending out mail ballots on North Carolina, where he won an appeal to remove his name from the ballot. Michigan officials sought a speedy resolution as the state’s ballots must be printed soon in accordance with the law. Military and overseas ballots must be mailed by Sept. 21, with absentee ballots following shortly thereafter on Sept. 26.
In a blistering dissent, Michigan Supreme Court Justices David Viviano and Brian Zahra argued the decision will seek only to harden distrust in the electoral system by forcing voters to have to consider a candidate who is unwilling to serve if elected.
“The ballots printed as a result of the Court’s decision will have the potential to confuse the voters, distort their choices, and pervert the true popular will and affect the outcome of the election,” they wrote. “In short, the Court’s ruling will do nothing to rebuild the public’s trust in the fairness and accuracy of our elections.”
