RFK Jr. Ordered Off Michigan Ballot by State Appeals Court

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he is suspending his presidential campaign at a news conference in Phoenix on Aug. 23, 2024. Darryl Webb/AP Photo

A Michigan appeals court has sided with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to have his name removed from the general election ballot, with the secretary of state’s office planning to appeal the decision to a higher court.

In a unanimous decision handed down on Sept. 6, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered Kennedy’s name removed from the November ballot, overturning a lower court ruling that ordered him to remain on the ballot despite the fact that he has withdrawn from the race for the White House and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

The three-judge panel on the Michigan Court of Appeals found that Kennedy’s request for his name to be removed from the ballot was made close to the deadline for candidates to give notice to local officials, but not too late. The judges also found no statutory authority that would prohibit a candidate from withdrawing from the race, noting that it is Kennedy’s “clear legal right” to do so.

A spokesperson from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the case is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Last month, Benson’s office said that Kennedy’s name would remain on the ballot after he pulled of out the race because state law purportedly does not allow minor party candidates nominated at a state convention to withdraw.

Kennedy qualified for Michigan’s Nov. 5 general election ballot in April after accepting a nomination from the Natural Law Party. He announced on Aug. 23 that he was suspending his campaign and throwing his support behind Trump.

At the time, Kennedy said that he wanted his name removed from the ballot in key swing states so as not to draw votes away from the former president.

“In about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler, I will remove my name and urge voters not to vote for me,” Kennedy said.

Amid opposition to his request to be removed from the ballot in some states, Kennedy also filed lawsuits in Wisconsin and North Carolina, a case that he won on Sept. 6.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals voted unanimously on Sept. 6 to grant Kennedy’s request to halt the mailing of absentee ballots and reprint them without his name.

The order came shortly before the state was set to start mailing out ballots at noon.