The Second Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision disqualifying the independent political candidate on Sept. 18.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to put his name back on New York’s presidential ballot after a lower court disqualified him.
Kennedy, an independent, announced on Aug. 23 that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
Although he has tried to remove his name from swing state ballots since Aug. 23, Kennedy has left his name on the ballot in some other states. He said he is doing this in a longshot bid to secure the presidency in a possible so-called contingent election that would put the presidency in the hands of the U.S. House of Representatives in the event of an electoral college deadlock.
“If you do vote for me, and neither of the candidates wins 270 electoral votes, which is quite possible—in fact, today our polling shows them tying at 269-269—I could conceivably still end up in the White House in a contingent election,” Kennedy has said.
The new emergency application was filed Sept. 21 and did not appear on the high court’s docket until Sept. 23.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor directed New York state officials to file a response to the application by 4 p.m. on Sept. 25.
The application states that Kennedy’s campaign gathered more than the required number of signatures from New York voters. The New York State Board of Elections certified more than 100,000 signatures as valid and ordered his name placed on the ballot.
On Aug. 12, Judge Christina Ryba of the New York Supreme Court found Kennedy had falsely claimed he had a New York residence despite living in California. The rented room in Katonah, New York, that he said was his residence wasn’t a “bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a ‘sham’ address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration” and advancing his candidacy, Ryba wrote.
On Sept. 10, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling and the next day the elections board certified the general election ballot without Kennedy’s name on it.
