Judge Rules RFK Jr. Must Remain On The Ballot In Wisconsin

A Wisconsin judge ruled Monday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must remain on the ballot in the Badger State as Kennedy continues his effort to have his name removed from the ballot in battleground states. 

Siding with the Wisconsin Election Commission, Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke said it was too late for Kennedy to remove himself under state law. Kennedy, who endorsed former President Donald Trump last month after suspending his presidential campaign, has attempted to have his name removed in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona. 

“Courts are required to apply the law as written, not as some party wishes it were written,” Ehlke said. “Under the statute, the commission clearly was correct when it certified Mr. Kennedy for inclusion on the November ballot.”

​​“The bottom line here is that Mr. Kennedy has no one to blame but himself if he didn’t want to be on the ballot,” the judge added. 

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Ehlke said that state law only allows people to be removed from the ballot if they die. 

“There is no constitutional right to have your name removed from a ballot after you voluntarily submitted your nomination papers with full knowledge that the statutes don’t allow you to withdraw your name,” he said. 

Ehlke also sided against a petition by Kennedy’s legal team to place stickers over his name, a proposal that was opposed by the state’s election commission. Kennedy also took issue with the fact that independent candidates in Wisconsin have an earlier deadline to withdraw their names from the ballot than major party candidates. 

Kennedy, whose efforts to get off the ballot in Michigan were also denied, plans to appeal the decision. He also has a pending case before Wisconsin’s 2nd District Court of Appeals, which is expected to weigh in now that Ehlke has made his decision. 

A poll released last week from Marquette Law School shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a 52-48 lead over Trump in a head-to-head matchup. With third-party candidates in the race, Harris dropped to 47%, Trump to 43%, and RFK Jr. took 6%.