North Carolina Supreme Court upholds appellate court order for his removal from ballots.
UPDATE September 10th, 10:00AM EDT
The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will remain on the ballot in the state’s general election. The court decided that the Michigan Secretary of State is not required to remove a candidate who withdrew from the race under state law.
After an appellate court had decided Kennedy’s name should be removed, the state’s supreme court majority wrote, “Assuming, without deciding, that the Court of Appeals was correct in its interpretation of MCL 168.686a(4), plaintiff has neither pointed to any source of law that prescribes and defines a duty to withdraw a candidate’s name from the ballot nor demonstrated his clear legal right to performance of this specific duty, let alone identified a source of law written with “ ‘such precision and certainty as to leave nothing to the exercise of discretion or judgment.’ ” Thus, the plaintiff has not shown an entitlement to this extraordinary relief, and we reverse.”
The North Carolina Supreme Court denied the state Board of Elections’ appeal and upheld a state appellate court’s ruling that Kennedy can have his name removed from that state’s ballots. The state supreme court ruled that leaving him on “could disenfranchise countless voters who mistakenly believe that plaintiff remains a candidate for office.”
UPDATE September 9th, 12:00PM EDT
The Michigan and North Carolina Courts of Appeals have ruled that their respective states must remove Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s name from the ballots for the November presidential election. In both cases, a lower court had sided with Michigan’s secretary of state and North Carolina’s Board of Elections in rejecting the candidate’s request after he withdrew from the election and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
“While the request was made close to the deadline for defendant to give notice of candidates to local election officials, it was not made so late that laches should apply,“ the Michigan appellate court wrote. “Additionally, we conclude that the absence of any statutory authority prohibiting his withdrawal gave plaintiff a clear legal right to have his name removed from the ballot.“
The decision in North Carolina will delay mailing of absentee ballots. Michigan had not yet begun to print its ballots. Both states’ officials will reportedly appeal the decisions.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For federal and state judges to be led by the Lord in their rulings on election related cases.
- For federal and state officials as they seek to ensure election integrity and uphold voting laws.
Sources: UPI News, Forbes
