Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To Stay On Wisconsin Poll, Courtroom Guidelines

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom dominated Friday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s identify will stay on the state’s presidential poll, upholding a decrease courtroom’s ruling that candidates can solely be faraway from the poll in the event that they die.

The choice from the liberal-controlled courtroom marks the newest twist in Kennedy’s quest to get his identify off ballots in key battleground states the place the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is shut. Kennedy’s lawyer in Wisconsin, Joseph Bugni, didn’t instantly return e mail and voicemail messages Friday.

The choice got here after greater than 418,000 absentee ballots have already been despatched to voters. As of Thursday, practically 28,000 had been returned, in keeping with the Wisconsin Elections Fee.

Kennedy suspended his marketing campaign in August and endorsed Trump. Earlier this month a divided North Carolina Supreme Courtroom stored him off the poll there whereas the Michigan Supreme Courtroom reversed a decrease courtroom choice and stored him on.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin on Sept. 3 searching for a courtroom order eradicating him from the poll. He argued that third-party candidates are discriminated towards as a result of state regulation treats them in another way than Republicans and Democrats operating for president.

He identified that Republicans and Democrats have till 5 p.m. on the primary Tuesday in September earlier than an election to certify their presidential nominee however that unbiased candidates like himself can solely withdraw earlier than an Aug. 6 deadline for submitting nomination papers.

Dane County Circuit Choose Stephen Ehlke dominated Sept. 16 that Wisconsin regulation clearly states that when candidates file legitimate nomination papers, they continue to be on the poll until they die. The decide added that many election clerks had already despatched ballots out for printing with Kennedy’s identify on them. Clerks had till Thursday to get ballots to voters who had requested them.

Kennedy’s attorneys had stated that clerks might cowl his identify with stickers, the usual follow when a candidate dies. Ehlke rejected that concept, saying it could be a logistical nightmare for clerks and that it isn’t clear whether or not the stickers would gum up tabulating machines. He additionally predicted lawsuits if clerks did not utterly cowl Kennedy’s identify or did not affix a sticker on some variety of ballots.

The presence of unbiased and third-party candidates on the poll might be a key think about Wisconsin, the place 4 of the previous six presidential elections have been determined by between about 5,700 to 23,000 votes.

In 2016, Inexperienced Get together nominee Jill Stein acquired simply over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin — greater than Trump’s successful margin of slightly below 23,000 votes. Some Democrats blamed her for serving to Trump win the state and the presidency that 12 months.