Federal judge rejects RFK Jr. motion to remove name from Michigan ballot

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, hosted an event at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines April 13, 2024, to gain ballot access for the 2024 presidential election. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has again been rejected in his effort to have his name removed from Michigan’s ballot this November.

The latest setback came Wednesday when U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood declined to grant Kennedy’s request for a preliminary injunction to halt the printing of ballots with his name listed as the presidential nominee of the Natural Law Party.

“Defendant argues that the integrity of the electoral process is at stake,” she wrote in her 18-page order. “Reprinting ballots at this late hour would undoubtedly halt the voting process in Michigan and cause a burden to election officials.”

The final deadline to get ballots printed and sent to military and overseas voters must be at least 45 days before the election, which would be Saturday.

Kennedy, 70, made the federal filing after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Sept. 9 the environmental lawyer’s name would remain on the Nov. 5 ballot, despite his request that it be removed after he suspended his independent campaign on Aug. 23 and endorsed former President Donald Trump’s bid for a second White House term. 

Initially, the Michigan Court of Claims upheld the decision by the Michigan Department of State (MDOS), led by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, that Kennedy’s request violated a section of Michigan Election Law concerning candidates nominated by minor political parties, saying they could not withdraw.

Hood addressed that point in her order.

“If allowed to withdraw, the Natural Law Party will have no candidate on the ticket, no opportunity to replace Plaintiff, and risk losing access to the ballot in the next general election,” she wrote. “Plaintiff has not established an interest so substantial as to overcome that of the State in keeping his name on the ballot.”

In Michigan, minor parties such as the Natural Law Party must have one of their candidates receive the equivalent of at least 1% of the total number of votes cast for the last winning secretary of state candidate, which in this case would be 2022. Thus if the Natural Law Party receives less than 24,679 votes this November, it could not appear on the 2026 ballot.

The only win Kennedy has received came from a unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals (COA) that overruled the Court of Claims decision and said MDOS incorrectly interpreted state election law. 

The Michigan Supreme Court order subsequently overruled that decision, sending Kennedy to the federal courts for relief. It’s not clear whether he plans to appeal Wednesday’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati.