In a decisive move by the Michigan Supreme Court, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will persist on Michigan's ballot for the forthcoming November election, defying an earlier appeals court mandate to remove his name. The court asserted Kennedy did not establish "an entitlement to this extraordinary relief," reported CBS News Detroit. Despite suspending his campaign and backing former President Donald Trump, Kennedy’s efforts to withdraw from state ballots, including in Michigan, has proved to be a complex legal challenge with courts rendering divergent verdicts across the country.
The saga has unfolded at a critical juncture, Kennedy, having garnered about 5% in Michigan polls after suspending his campaign, made tactical moves, potentially influencing a tight race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, noted by CBS News Detroit. The Supreme Court's decision hinged, in part, on the proximity to election deadlines and the Natural Law Party’s subordinate opportunity to nominate another contender, this coming from Justice Elizabeth Welch’s contributions to the ruling as the emergency appeal itself pressed against the deadlines for local clerks to be notified of ballot changes, CBS News Detroit reports.
Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson stood firm on the Michigan Supreme Court's ruling, indicating that the decision allowed clerks to move forward with the ballot printing process to ensure absentee ballots will be delivered to voters by the federal deadlines; Benson’s commitment to adherence to these deadlines reaffirms the high court's endorsement and the readiness of election officials to meet federal deadlines, according to a report obtained by Hoodline.
Contrarily, North Carolina's Supreme Court upheld the removal of Kennedy from its ballots, highlighting the dissonance between state responses, with more than 2.9 million absentee and in-person ballots featuring Kennedy's name already printed; this decision was backed by four justices underscored the constitutional priority to enable voters to cast ballots aligned with their conscience and to ensure those votes counted, said an order backed by a majority of Republican justices, as chronicled by AP News.
Adding to the electoral friction, Michigan is placed in a peculiar position where Kennedy's suspended campaign yet lingering presence on the ballot has fostered a scenario. According to dissenting Justices David Viviano and Brian Zahra, "Now countless Michigan voters may be deluded and deceived into casting their ballots for a candidate who has no intention to hold the office. Because there is no legal authority for the Secretary's decision to deny Kennedy's withdrawal, mandamus is warranted, and this appeal should be denied," as reported by CBS News Detroit.
