Supreme Court Won’t Restore RFK Jr.’s Name to New York Ballot

Matthew Vadum
By Matthew Vadum
September 27, 20242024 Elections
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Supreme Court Won’t Restore RFK Jr.’s Name to New York Ballot
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a news conference in Phoenix, on Aug. 23, 2024. (Darryl Webb/AP Photo)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 27 denied Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to put his name back on New York’s presidential ballot after a lower court disqualified him.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor referred the emergency application in Team Kennedy v. Berger to the full court, which denied it without comment in a one-sentence order.

Kennedy, an independent, announced on Aug. 23 that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.

Although Kennedy has tried to remove his name from swing state ballots since Aug. 23, he has left his name on the ballot in some other states. He said he is doing this in a longshot bid to secure the presidency in a possible so-called contingent election that would put the presidency in the hands of the U.S. House of Representatives in the event of an electoral college deadlock.

Kennedy’s application to the Supreme Court said that Kennedy’s campaign gathered more than the required number of signatures from New York voters. The New York State Board of Elections certified more than 100,000 signatures as valid and ordered his name placed on the ballot.

On Aug. 12, Judge Christina Ryba of the New York Supreme Court found Kennedy had falsely claimed he had a New York residence despite living in California. The rented room in Katonah, New York, that he said was his residence wasn’t a “bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a ‘sham’ address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration” and advancing his candidacy, Ryba wrote.

On Sept. 10, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling and the next day the elections board certified the general election ballot without Kennedy’s name on it.

On Sept. 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the campaign’s motion to reverse the ruling in a one-sentence order.

The Epoch Times has reached out for comment to the Kennedy campaign and to New York state legal officials.

From The Epoch Times