Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was able to get off the ballot in North Carolina, but has now failed to do so in another battleground state: Wisconsin. The rejection by the latter state’s Supreme Court came on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Kennedy’s bid on the mood in New York.
Michigan’s highest court also said earlier this month that he will be on the swing state ballot.
These statements follow the suspension of Kennedy’s independent presidential campaign last month and his support for Republican candidate Donald Trump. Since dropping out of the race, he has fought to stay out the ballot in swing states, where he could hurt Trump as he tried to win on them elsewhere, such as in New York during the attempt that failed on Friday.
The rejection in Wisconsin also came on Friday. The state’s highest court upheld a lower court’s ruling against Kennedy, noting that the lower court “had pointed out that Kennedy had simultaneously claimed damages in some states for not being removed from the ballot and damages in other states because they were not placed on the ballot. .” The court also cited
…the harm that would be caused to the public if the requested order were granted, including the high cost of reprinting ballots or the logistical difficulties of conducting elections with ballots with stickers placed on them to obscure Kennedy’s name, such as he had asked. ”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court also called attention to the quality of Kennedy’s attorney work, writing that his briefings failed to develop arguments “to even a minimal standard sufficient to allow consideration of their merits.” While emphasizing that it was not necessarily consistent with the lower court’s legal conclusions, the top court said it was simply “unable to make such decisions given the inadequate briefing presented to us.”
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
