He had earlier filed a lawsuit towards Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in Michigan’s Court docket of Claims on Friday in a bid to withdraw his identify because the state’s election officers denied Kennedy’s withdrawal discover.
Benson in a publish on X mentioned that below Michigan legislation, candidates who’re nominated and settle for a minor get together’s nomination “shall not be permitted to withdraw.”
In the meantime, Kennedy in his lawsuit, mentioned that he submitted the withdrawal discover on time and that the voters’s votes could possibly be “diminished and rendered invalid” if his identify stays on the poll.
Nonetheless, Choose Christopher P Yates of the Michigan Court docket of Claims mentioned that the secretary of state had appropriately rejected Kennedy’s request to be faraway from the poll.
“Elections should not simply video games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) shouldn’t be obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public workplace,” Yates mentioned in his order.
Kennedy suspended his presidential bid and endorsed former President Donald Trump. He has since then been attempting to take away his identify from the poll in states like Michigan, the place a detailed contest is anticipated. He’s additionally in search of to remain on the poll in states the place his presence is unlikely to influence the end result.
Earlier, he filed an analogous lawsuit in North Carolina on Friday, in search of to take away his identify from the poll there. Final week, election officers in Wisconsin additionally dominated that Kennedy should stay on the poll, rejecting his request to withdraw.
In a separate case, one other Michigan Court docket of Claims decide dominated final week that liberal unbiased presidential candidate Cornel West should additionally stay on the poll, a call welcomed by West’s marketing campaign.
Each Kennedy and West, notable third-party candidates, discover themselves in the course of numerous authorized and political disputes nationwide as Democrats and Republicans try to leverage the influence of third-party candidates who may probably siphon votes from their opponents.
In a number of battleground states, akin to Arizona and Michigan, Republican allies have sought to maintain West on the poll, whereas Democrats fear that he would possibly draw votes away from Vice President Kamala Harris.
