A decide on Monday denied Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to take away his identify from the presidential poll in the important thing swing state of Wisconsin, ruling that state legislation requires candidates to stay on the poll except they die.
Dane County Circuit Decide Stephen Ehlke’s determination marks the most recent twist in Kennedy’s initiative to withdraw from the poll in key states the place the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is shut.
Kennedy suspended his marketing campaign in August and endorsed TrumpKennedy mentioned he would attempt to get his identify faraway from ballots in battleground states, and instructed supporters they may proceed to again him in most states the place he’s unlikely to affect the result.
Earlier this month, Kennedy obtained a court docket order in North Carolina to take away his identify from that state’s poll. Nonetheless, the Michigan Supreme Courtroom dominated final week that he’ll stay on that state’s poll.
On Sept. 3, Kennedy filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin searching for a court docket order to have him faraway from the poll. He argued that third-party candidates endure discrimination as a result of state legislation treats Republicans and Democrats operating for president in another way.
He famous that Republicans and Democrats have till 5 p.m. on the primary Tuesday in September earlier than an election to certify their presidential nominee, however impartial candidates like himself can solely withdraw earlier than the Aug. 6 deadline to file nomination papers.
Ehlke rejected Kennedy’s petition in no unsure phrases. He dominated that Wisconsin statutes clearly state that after candidates file legitimate nomination papers, they continue to be on the poll except they die.
“The statute is evident on its face,” the decide mentioned.
Ehlke went on to notice that many county clerks have already despatched out ballots to be printed earlier than Wednesday’s deadline with Kennedy’s identify on them.
Kennedy’s legal professionals had instructed that officers cowl his identify with stickers, a regular observe when a candidate dies. The decide rejected that concept, calling it a logistical nightmare and questioning whether or not the stickers would clog tabulating machines. He additionally famous that there could possibly be alternatives for litigation if officers didn’t cowl his identify on any variety of ballots.
“Mr. Kennedy has nobody accountable however himself if he didn’t need to be on the poll,” Ehlke mentioned.
Kennedy’s attorneys made the weird transfer of asking a state appeals court docket to just accept the case days earlier than Ehlke was set to rule, hoping to expedite the attraction. The Second District Courtroom of Appeals has been ready for Ehlke’s ruling earlier than deciding whether or not to just accept the case. On-line court docket data don’t point out any quick motion by the appeals court docket after the ruling.
The presence of impartial and third-party candidates within the race could possibly be a key think about Wisconsin, the place 4 of the final six presidential elections have been determined by between 5,700 and about 23,000 votes.
In 2016, Inexperienced Social gathering candidate Jill Stein gained simply over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin, greater than Trump’s margin of victory of just below 23,000 votes. Some Democrats have blamed her for serving to Trump win the state and the presidency that yr.