Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pleaded with voters “DO NOT VOTE FOR ME”—hours after the Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to remove him from the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, in August. However, his name remained on the ballot in several key swing states—including the Midwestern “blue wall” states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
The former candidate’s attempts to remove himself from the ballots were blocked by the secretaries of state in both states—both of whom are Democrats. The Supreme Courts of both Michigan and Wisconsin both upheld the decisions in September, forcing his name to remain on ballots.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kennedy appealed the decisions again to the Supreme Court, arguing that his First Amendment rights were violated by the decision. But the high court rejected both emergency appeals without comment. Only Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented, and only in the case of the Michigan petition.
In an irate statement posted on social media, Kennedy called the decision to leave him on the ballot “a purely political move in the hope that folks who would have otherwise voted for Trump will throw away their vote by voting for me instead.”
Kennedy was successful in removing himself from the ballot in North Carolina after that state’s Supreme Court overturned the order keeping him listed in a narrow 4-3 vote.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court rejected another appeal from Kennedy concerning ballot access; however, this time the ex-Democrat was still trying to get on the ballot in some states.
In August, Kennedy was barred from the ballot in New York state after a judge determined he did not live at the Westchester County address he listed as his residence. Kennedy appealed this decision to the high court, who similarly rejected his petition without comment in September.
Meanwhile, millions of voters in the Midwest have already returned ballots with Kennedy’s name listed. Early voting began in Wisconsin last Tuesday, and almost one million voters have already cast their ballots one week later, local station Fox 6 Milwaukee reported. Another 2 million have cast votes in Michigan, the Wolverine State’s Department of State said on Tuesday.
