Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not be able to remove his name from the ballots in Wisconsin and in Michigan, two crucial battleground states that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are hoping will deliver them a decisive win in November.
Kennedy suspended his independent bid for president last week and promptly endorsed Trump. Polls had shown that Kennedy was more likely to gain support among Republicans than among Democrats, and the suspension of his presidential campaign was seen as more beneficial to Trump than to Harris.
In remarks to his supporters on Friday, Kennedy said he was not formally ending his campaign and that he intends to remain on the ballot in states where he poses little to no threat of splitting the vote with the GOP nominee. But in Michigan and Wisconsin, where polls have been running close, Kennedy has now been barred from removing himself from ballots.
In Michigan, where Kennedy was nominated as the Natural Law Party’s candidate, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office told NBC News that minor-party candidates cannot withdraw their nominations. The Wisconsin Election Commission on Tuesday also declined Kennedy’s request to take his name off the ballot; Ann Jacobs, who chairs the commission, said that state law does not permit a qualified candidate who has filed nomination papers to decline nomination, NBC News reported.
Still, Kennedy’s insistence on remaining on ballots in non-swing states may speak to a need to prove that his candidacy, no matter how little it is resonating, has appeal. Days after Kennedy suspended his campaign, Kentucky’s secretary of state said he had filed on Monday to run for president in the state and will appear on the ballot in November.
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