Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked a Dane County Circuit Court to remove him from Wisconsin’s presidential ballot, arguing a state law that prevents him from withdrawing means he’s treated differently from Dem and Republican nominees.
The suit comes as county clerks have already begun sending ballots to their printers ahead of a deadline in two weeks to deliver them to local election officials.
Kennedy filed nomination papers early last month to appear on the Wisconsin ballot, then sought to withdraw the signatures. But state law doesn’t include a mechanism for candidates to withdraw nomination papers once they’ve been filed. The Wisconsin Elections Commission ultimately voted 5-1 last week to include Kennedy on the ballot after GOP members initially sought to honor his request.
Kennedy’s suit, filed Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court, argues that there’s a double standard under Wisconsin law for independent candidates such as himself compared to major party nominees. It also notes that Kennedy has endorsed Donald Trump and that by keeping him on the ballot, the Elections Commission is “falsely representing to the people of Wisconsin that Kennedy is running against President Trump and is opposed to President Trump’s candidacy. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
It’s one of three suits Kennedy has filed seeking to be pushed off presidential ballots after various state agencies decided to keep him on. A Michigan court earlier this week rejected the request, while his suit is still pending in North Carolina. The efforts come as some Trump backers have feared Kennedy would drain support from the GOP nominee.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission declined comment on the suit, which seeks to contrast how President Joe Biden was allowed to withdraw from the race, but the commission voted to put Kennedy on the ballot.
The suit seeks to draw several other parallels between Biden and Kennedy, including a false claim “both have vast experiences within government—each having served decades in Congress.” Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 and served there until his election as vice president in 2008. Kennedy has never held elected office.
Parties with ballot access, such as Dems and Republicans, have a deadline of the first Tuesday in September to certify their presidential candidates. Biden dropped out of the race in July, and the party selected Kamala Harris as its nominee during the national convention last month.
Independent candidates such as Kennedy are required to collect at least 2,000 valid signatures by early August to appear on the ballot. Once those nomination papers are turned in, there’s no mechanism to withdraw them.
The suit argues there’s no compelling state reason for the different treatment. It also argues the commission is misinterpreting a state statute that says any “person who files nomination papers and qualifies to appear on the ballot may not decline nomination.” The suit argues Kennedy didn’t qualify until after the commission approved his candidacy and he should’ve been allowed to withdraw his nomination papers.
The lawsuit was filed four years to the day after the Green Party asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to add its presidential candidate to the Wisconsin ballot after the Elections Commission deadlocked on whether he should be included. The court in that case issued a 4-3 ruling 11 days later, finding the party had waited too long to file the suit, in part because some ballots had already been printed.
County clerks face a Sept. 18 deadline to deliver ballots to local election officials. Municipal clerks then have a Sept. 19 deadline to send absentee ballots to voters who have a request already on file.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell told WisPolitics in a text message that he was meeting with the printer today to meet those deadlines. Meanwhile, Milwaukee County was in the process of proofing its ballots before sending them to the printer on Friday. And Marathon County Clerk Kim Trueblood said she was proofing ballots so the file could be sent to the printer tomorrow or first thing Friday; Trueblood added her printer needs at least a week to complete the ballots.
The suit seeks a stay of the Elections Commission’s ruling and an order barring the agency from placing Kennedy’s name on the ballot. The commission certified presidential candidates for the Wisconsin ballot last week, allowing county clerks to begin printing ballots.
“We’re printing over 100,000 ballots, so it’s not a quick turnaround,” Trueblood said.
Note: This story was updated Sept. 5, 2024, to include additional content.
