Former President Donald Trump got some good news this week as two appeals courts handed down rulings concerning the status of former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his efforts to remove himself from the ballots of key battleground states. Both North Carolina and Michigan sided with Kennedy and will take his name off the ballot, effectively preventing those who would have cast ballots for him from siphoning off votes from Trump, who he has endorsed for president.
In the state of North Carolina, the Court of Appeals stated that Kennedy’s name must be pulled off the general election ballot, which comes just a few weeks after he dropped from the race and put his support behind the former president, according to a report from Trending Politics News. The new ruling has now caused a delay on the mailing out of absentee ballots that were supposed to be sent out by now. The ballots will have to be reprinted, thus thee cause for the delay.
The situation in Michigan unfolded similarly. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that Kennedy’s name must be removed from the ballot. A three-judge panel overturned an earlier decision by the state’s Court of Claims that denied Kennedy’s request to withdraw his name from the general election ballot according to Bloomberg. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, had initially denied Kennedy’s withdrawal request, citing Michigan Election Law, but the appeals court disagreed, ruling in Kennedy’s favor. In its decision, the Michigan court said that the state election law did not prohibit Kennedy’s withdrawal from the race. The court wrote, “We conclude that the absence of any statutory authority prohibiting his withdrawal gave plaintiff a clear legal right to have his name removed from the ballot.” The ruling also pointed out that while there are provisions in Michigan law restricting candidate withdrawal for certain offices, those provisions do not apply to presidential candidates.
Kennedy, who had garnered substantial support while running as an Independent, suspended his presidential campaign in August. He formally requested the removal of his name from the Michigan ballot shortly thereafter, a move he said was motivated by his decision to support Trump in the 2024 election. Despite opposition from the state’s election officials, Kennedy’s legal team argued that the law allowed him to withdraw from the race, ultimately securing victory in the appeals court. The timing of this ruling is massive, as Michigan election officials were facing a September 6 deadline to send out the list of candidates to local clerks. The deadline was crucial for printing absentee ballots, especially for military and overseas voters. With the court’s decision coming just hours before the deadline, officials will now have to make swift changes to remove Kennedy’s name from the ballot.
There were several blue-leaning states that made life a living nightmare for Kennedy when it came to getting his name on the ballot. Wisconsin and Michigan ruled last month that RFK would have to stay on the ballot. The court in Michigan stated that the laws concerning candidate nominations for state offices are vastly different from those for presidential candidates. This difference provide some wiggle room for Kennedy to get his name taken off the ballot. Now that his name is being removed, the focus on the ballot will be between the two big party candidates, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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