{"id":2339230,"date":"2024-09-10T14:45:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T18:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-supreme-court-lets-elections-chief-add-rfk-jr-back-to-ballot\/"},"modified":"2024-09-10T14:46:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T18:46:55","slug":"mi-supreme-court-lets-elections-chief-add-rfk-jr-back-to-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-supreme-court-lets-elections-chief-add-rfk-jr-back-to-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"MI Supreme Court Lets Elections Chief Add RFK Jr. Back To Ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmi-supreme-court-lets-elections-chief-add-rfk-jr-back-to-ballot%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2339230&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Michigan Supreme Court\u2064 ruled in favor of Secretary of State Jocelyn \u2062Benson, allowing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remain on the ballot for the upcoming election, despite his \u200cintention to \u200cwithdraw in support of\u200b former President\u200c Donald Trump. This decision \u2062overturned a previous ruling by the Michigan Court \u2062of Appeals that\u2064 had ordered Kennedy&#8217;s \u2063removal from the ballot. Kennedy&#8217;s attorney argued\u2062 that the ruling undermines election integrity \u2064by allowing voters to mistakenly cast votes for a candidate\u200b who \u200cis \u2062no \u2063longer in the race. <\/p>\n<p>The\u2064 Supreme Court&#8217;s decision\u2063 stated that there was no clear\u2063 legal basis to mandate\u2064 Kennedy&#8217;s removal, and \u2064thus,\u200b his name will remain \u2062on the ballot for the\u2062 November election. Justices David F. \u2064Viviano and Brian K.\u2064 Zahra dissented, expressing concerns \u200bthat the ruling could\u2064 erode public trust in electoral fairness \u200dand confuse voters. <\/p>\n<p>Kennedy&#8217;s campaign initially sought to withdraw his \u2062candidacy to avoid affecting Trump&#8217;s chances against\u200d Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. \u2064The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boxer-imane-khelif-beats-another-female-opponent-to-advance-to-olympic-final\/\" title=\"Boxer Imane Khelif Beats Another Female Opponent to Advance to Olympic Final\">situation highlights ongoing debates<\/a> regarding\u200d ballot\u200b access, candidate withdrawal rights, and the impact of third-party candidates on elections, particularly in swing states like \u2063Michigan.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Michigan Supreme Court opened the door for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to keep RFK Jr. on the ballot in a Monday ruling, reversing a Friday court of appeals decision that ruled his name be removed. This comes despite Kennedy&rsquo;s announcement last month he would <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/23\/rfk-jr-drops-out-of-2024-race-endorses-trump-for-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drop out<\/a> of the race, withdrawing his name from the ballot in swing states like Michigan in hopes of helping former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This plainly has nothing to do with ballot or election integrity,&rdquo; Kennedy&rsquo;s attorney Aaron Siri said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ProfMJCleveland\/status\/1833312611267469507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Monday<\/a> to The Federalist&rsquo;s Senior Legal Correspondent Margot Cleveland. &ldquo;The aim is precisely the opposite &ndash; to have unwitting Michigan voters throw away their votes on a withdrawn candidate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The ruling allows Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to keep Kennedy&rsquo;s name on November&rsquo;s ballot. But the Michigan Court of Appeals <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/06\/courts-order-rfk-jr-to-be-removed-from-ballots-in-north-carolina-and-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ordered<\/a> Kennedy&rsquo;s name off the ballot Friday, as the Federalist previously reported.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Michigan secretary of state, as directed by the Court of Appeals, had already certified the candidates to all 83 counties in Michigan for ballot printing without Mr. Kennedy&rsquo;s name,&rdquo; Siri <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ProfMJCleveland\/status\/1833312330060325187\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> to Cleveland.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: Michigan Supreme Court reverses Court of Appeals opinion meaning Kennedy must stay on ballot. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Tw4itb0geU\">https:\/\/t.co\/Tw4itb0geU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProfMJCleveland\/status\/1833243465989427488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Federalist asked Benson&rsquo;s office if she planned to keep Kennedy&rsquo;s name on the ballot and whether it was possible to do so at this point. But Director of Communications Angela Benander simply said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re grateful to the Michigan Supreme Court for their swift response. Clerks can now move forward with the ballot printing process to ensure absentee ballots will be delivered to voters by the federal deadlines.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>The Ruling<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wa-school-leaders-make-case-for-more-spending-despite-court-ordered-funding-bumps-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"WA school leaders make case for more spending despite court-ordered funding bumps - Washington Examiner\">state supreme court&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s ruling reversed Friday&rsquo;s court of appeals ruling, according to the court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.michigan.gov\/4a58a0\/siteassets\/case-documents\/uploads\/sct\/public\/orders\/167545_43_01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">order<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Plaintiff has neither pointed to any source of law that&nbsp;prescribes and defines a duty to withdraw a candidate&rsquo;s name from the ballot nor&nbsp;demonstrated his clear legal right to performance of this specific duty, let alone identified&nbsp;a source of law written with &lsquo;&rdquo;such precision and certainty as to leave nothing to the exercise of discretion or judgment,&#8217;&rdquo; the Monday order reads. &ldquo;Thus, the plaintiff has not shown an entitlement to this extraordinary relief, and we reverse.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Justices David F. Viviano and Brian K. Zahra dissented, saying the &ldquo;ruling will do nothing to rebuild the public&rsquo;s trust in the fairness and accuracy of our elections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;No statute prohibits a&nbsp;presidential candidate from withdrawing his or her candidacy. And there is no practical reason for denying a request to withdraw before the ballots have been printed for the general election,&rdquo; the dissent reads. <\/p>\n<p>The ruling has the potential to affect the election&rsquo;s outcome with a &ldquo;significant cost to the integrity of the election,&rdquo; as &ldquo;voters will be improperly denied a choice between persons who are actually candidates, and who are willing to serve if elected,&rdquo; Viviano and Zahra argued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;The ballots printed as a result of the Court&rsquo;s decision will have the potential to&nbsp;confuse the voters, distort their choices, and pervert the true popular will and affect the&nbsp;outcome of the election,&rdquo; the dissent reads.<\/p>\n<h2>Election Engineering<\/h2>\n<p>When Kennedy&rsquo;s campaign first requested to withdraw his name from the ballot, Michigan&rsquo;s Natural Law Party &mdash; under whose banner he was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/28\/dems-are-fighting-to-keep-rfk-jr-on-swing-state-ballots-as-potential-spoiler-against-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">running<\/a> &mdash; reached out to the state director of elections, saying the party opposed Kennedy&rsquo;s request because it could find itself subject to &ldquo;severe prejudice if its candidate were removed from the ballot,&rdquo; according to the state supreme court order.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Benson said she would <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/28\/dems-are-fighting-to-keep-rfk-jr-on-swing-state-ballots-as-potential-spoiler-against-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">keep<\/a> Kennedy&rsquo;s name on the ballot even after he withdrew from the race, with her office reportedly claiming &ldquo;minor party candidates cannot withdraw,&rdquo; as previously noted in The Federalist. Her office also reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2024\/08\/23\/robert-f-kennedy-rfk-jr-suspends-presidential-campaign-endorses-trump-michigan-ballot-natural-law\/74923208007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> Kennedy could not withdraw because he had passed the deadline for his political party to choose new electors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So Kennedy filed a complaint in the court of claims on Aug. 30, as noted in the order. The court denied Kennedy&rsquo;s request, so he brought the case to the court of appeals.<\/p>\n<p>The court of appeals found Kennedy had a &ldquo;clear legal right to have his name removed from the ballot,&rdquo; according to its Sept. 6 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.michigan.gov\/4a4ff9\/siteassets\/case-documents\/uploads\/opinions\/final\/coa\/20240906_c372349_28_372349.opn.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">order<\/a>. It found Michigan law allows party conventions to nominate candidates for state office, who then &ldquo;shall not be permitted to withdraw.&rdquo; But it ruled this does not include nominations to the federal office of president.<\/p>\n<p>In the state supreme court ruling, Justice Elizabeth Welch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.michigan.gov\/4a58a0\/siteassets\/case-documents\/uploads\/sct\/public\/orders\/167545_43_01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a> in her concurring opinion that, on this point, &ldquo;statutory ambiguity makes it impossible to conclude that defendant had a&nbsp;<em>clear&nbsp;<\/em>legal duty to remove plaintiff from the ballot.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy said &ldquo;his internal polls had shown that his presence in the race would hurt Trump and help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris&rdquo; in the election, as <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/rfk-jr-trump-speech-arizona-a2638f89ddcb5de03edbe4574ca17d45\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> in the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Benson and state Democrats have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2024\/09\/09\/robert-kennedy-rfk-jr-name-stays-on-ballot-michigan-supreme-court-ruling-donald-trump-kamala-harris\/75141686007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pushing<\/a> to keep third-party candidate Cornel West off Michigan&rsquo;s ballot, citing technicalities with his identity notarization and &ldquo;and allegations that West&rsquo;s petitions to get on the ballot were fraudulent,&rdquo; according to The Detroit News.<\/p>\n<p>The state supreme court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2024\/09\/09\/cornel-west-ruled-eligible-michigan-presidential-ballot\/75090430007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> to take up a Democrat appeal to an earlier decision by the court of appeals, which said West must <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2024\/08\/30\/cornel-west-eligible-michigan-presidential-ballot\/75017522007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">remain<\/a> on the ballot.&nbsp;West&rsquo;s presence on the ballot could likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/republicans-are-central-in-an-effort-to-rescue-cornel-wests-ballot-hopes-in-arizona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hurt<\/a> Harris&rsquo; chances, as noted by PBS.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After being asked why Benson was working to keep Kennedy on the ballot and Cornel West off the ballot, Benander told The Federalist that Benson&rsquo;s office &ldquo;did not seek to overturn the Appellate Court&rsquo;s decision on Cornel West.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\">electionbriefing.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Michigan Supreme Court has allowed Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to keep RFK Jr. on the ballot following a ruling on Monday, which overturned a previous decision by the court of appeals that had ordered his removal. This development occurs even after Kennedy declared last month that he would exit the race and requested to have his name withdrawn from ballots in key states like Michigan to support former President Donald Trump. Kennedy&#8217;s attorney, Aaron Siri, criticized the situation, stating it undermines election integrity by potentially misleading voters into casting their votes for a candidate who is no longer running.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling permits Benson to include Kennedy\u2019s name on the November ballot despite an earlier order from the Michigan Court of Appeals that had already led her office to certify candidates without him. In response to inquiries about her plans regarding Kennedy&#8217;s candidacy, Communications Director Angela Benander expressed gratitude for the Supreme Court&#8217;s prompt decision and emphasized that clerks could now proceed with printing ballots in time for absentee voting deadlines.<\/p>\n<p>The state supreme court\u2019s decision reversed Friday\u2019s appellate ruling, noting that there was no legal basis presented by those seeking Kennedy&#8217;s removal from the ballot. Dissenting justices voiced concerns about how this ruling could damage public trust in electoral fairness and accuracy, arguing there is no law preventing a presidential candidate from withdrawing before ballots are printed.<\/p>\n<p>When Kennedy initially sought to withdraw his candidacy, Michigan\u2019s Natural Law Party opposed this move due to potential negative consequences for their party if he were removed from consideration. Despite claiming minor party candidates cannot withdraw and asserting procedural reasons against allowing it, Benson ultimately decided not to remove him after he filed complaints through various courts.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy indicated that polling suggested his continued presence in the race might harm Trump while benefiting Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, state Democrats have been attempting to exclude third-party candidate Cornel West from Michigan&#8217;s ballot over alleged technical issues with his petition process; however, an earlier appellate court decision mandated West remain on it.<\/p>\n<p>For further updates on election matters, visit electionbriefing.com.<br \/>\nLogan Washburn is a staff writer focused on election integrity issues and has contributed articles across several publications while residing in rural Michigan after graduating from Hillsdale College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2339231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-10-at-1.42.12%E2%80%AFPM-e1725990228245.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[7386,33740,40566,37972,32458],"class_list":["post-2339230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-ballot","tag-court-ruling","tag-elections-chief","tag-mi-supreme-court","tag-rfk-jr"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-10-at-1.42.12%E2%80%AFPM-e1725990228245.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}