RFK Jr. loses Supreme Court fight for New York ballot access

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Supreme Court on Friday denied a last-minute bid from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to get onto presidential ballots in New York.

Kennedy filed an emergency appeal to put his name on ballots despite ending his candidacy last month. The former independent candidate claimed that voters who signed his ballot access petition should have the opportunity to vote for him whether he was running or not.

The court didn’t explain its decision to deny Kennedy’s application. There were no noted dissents.

Kennedy’s appeal came two weeks after New York’s ballot certification deadline and days after the federal deadline to send overseas and military ballots. Barbara Underwood, New York’s solicitor general, said adding Kennedy’s name to ballots would have severely disrupted the state’s election processes, confused voters and potentially disenfranchised voters who voted using the original ballot.

“There is little irreparable harm to Kennedy from being removed from the ballot for an office he no longer seeks,” Underwood wrote.

Voters challenged Kennedy’s eligibility for New York’s ballot, claiming he used a faulty address on nominating petitions to maintain his voter registration in the state. Kennedy claimed he was renting a bedroom in a friend’s house despite moving to California a decade ago.

Justice Christina Ryba sided with the voters, finding that Kennedy’s supposed New York residence was a sham and disqualifying him from ballot access.

After his Second Circuit appeal, Kennedy told the Supreme Court that New York’s residence requirement was unconstitutional.

“No state has the constitutional right to limit presidential candidates to in-state residents, and New York does not purport to do so,” Kennedy wrote. “Thus, as applied to the presidency, the residence requirement does not serve the interest it serves for virtually all other offices: it is not related to a qualification for office.”

New York argued Kennedy waited too long to appeal his removal. The Empire State said voters wouldn’t be deprived of their rights because they could vote for him as a write-in candidate.

“Kennedy’s purported concern for his petition signers’ rights is highly questionable given his attempts to remove his name from the ballots in other States,” Underwood wrote. “Meanwhile, voters who may not be aware of Kennedy’s suspension of his candidacy may be misled by his presence on the ballot into thinking that he remains a bona fide candidate for the presidency.”

After endorsing former President Donald Trump in August, Kennedy filed numerous lawsuits to remove his name from presidential ballots. A Michigan judge ruled that Kennedy must remain on ballots, but the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered the board of electors to reprint new ballots. Wisconsin is considering a similar case.

The longtime environmental lawyer’s candidacy repeatedly turned up in headlines as reporting uncovered sexual assault allegations, a supposed case of brain-eating worms and a Central Park prank involving a dead baby bear.

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