(DCWatchdog.com) – In a sneaky attempt to prevent any electoral benefits that Donald Trump may derive from his endorsement by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., two Democrat-run battleground states have rebuffed the latter’s request to be removed from the ballot.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson declared on Tuesday through her press secretary that Kennedy, who runs as the presidential nominee for the Natural Law Party in the state, was not allowed to withdraw from the election.
On Wednesday, Wisconsin followed suit, as the state’s Election Commission decided to keep the former 2024 independent presidential candidate on the ballot, even after he suspended his campaign and expressed a desire to be removed.
Kennedy, who had announced on August 23 his intention to withdraw from the ballots in 10 pivotal swing states and endorsed the Republican nominee Donald Trump for president in 2024, found his request denied by the state of Wisconsin, The Daily Caller reports.
According to NBC News, despite Kennedy’s change of stance, the commission voted to deny his request to be removed from the ballot, effectively ensuring his presence in the upcoming election.
During the commission’s deliberation, Ann Jacobs, the Chairwoman of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, referred to the legal constraints binding the commission’s decision.
She emphasized to a fellow commissioner, who seemed perplexed by Kennedy’s continued presence on the ballot, the explicit statute that mandates the appearance of all candidates who have filed nomination papers on the ballot, unless they are deceased.
“The statute literally says, ‘Any person who files nomination papers and qualifies to appear on the ballot may not decline nomination. The name of that person shall appear upon the ballot except in case of death of the person,’” Jacobs stated, underscoring the lack of discretion the commission has in this matter despite the unusual circumstances.
Jacobs, addressing criticisms and misunderstandings about the law, took to social media to post a screenshot of the statute.
She noted it was aimed at those who feigned ignorance about the legal framework governing Kennedy’s request.
In the broader electoral context, current polling data from RealClearPolitics shows Vice President Kamala Harris slightly ahead of Trump by 1% in Wisconsin, a state that Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020 by a margin of 0.7%, having flipped it from Trump’s 2016 victory.
In Michigan, Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary to Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, explained that Kennedy’s affiliation with the Natural Law Party, which does not allow the selection of new electors, necessitated his continued inclusion on the ballot.
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