UPDATE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not expected to appear on the presidential ballot in New York state after a court ruling determined that he was not a resident, thereby invalidating his petition, the New York Post reported.
The ruling by Justice Christina L. Ryba casts doubt on the status of his petitions in other states, as well, despite the fact that Kennedy indicated on Friday that he expected to be present on the ballot in all 50 states.
“The overwhelming credible evidence introduced at trial established that Kennedy’s connections with the 84 Croton Lake Road address existed only on paper and were maintained for the sole purpose of maintaining his voter registration and political standing in the State of New York,” Ryba wrote.
Because Kennedy’s running mate, Cheryl Hines, is a resident of California, the ruling may potentially invalidate the petition there, as well, due to a provision in the 12th Amendment that prevents running mates from the same state of receiving the state’s electoral votes.
Original report below:
(Elias Irizarry, Headline USA) Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced Friday that he had completed the requisite steps required to be on the ballot in all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., for the 2024 presidential election.
“Right now we have enough signatures to be on all 50 states … some of the states are not yet certified, but we’re gonna be on the ballot in all 50 states, for sure,” Kennedy told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto.
However, his quest for ballot access has been met by legal challenges from the Democratic Party and their operatives.
Among the lawfare campaigns seeking to block Kennedy from the ballot was a suit filed in July by the North Carolina Democratic Party against the state’s election board.
To the NCDP’s dismay, however, the Wake County Superior Court ruled in the candidate’s favor on Monday, the Carolina Journal reported.
“There was no basis in fact or law for NCDP’s claims, and their lawsuit was a transparent attempt to suppress voter choice in North Carolina,” said Oliver Hall, a lawyer for the We The People Party, a political party started by supporters of Kennedy.
Republican Party operatives, on the other hand, have reportedly been fighting to keep third-party and independent candidates—such as far-left independent candidate Cornel West—on the ballot, according to documents received by NBC News.
Kennedy’s mission of achieving ballot access in all 50 states has varied state-by-state. The mandatory number of signatures to receive ballot access in 39 states is no more than 10,000. However, California, Florida and Texas all require at least 100,000 signatures.
In some states, Kennedy has relied upon the help of minor political parties to nominate him as their candidate to circumvent the petition process.
We just added another 8 states this morning: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, Virginia. This brings our ballot access to 480 electoral votes! Only 8 states remain!!! ⚡️💜💜🙌 #TeamKennedy #KennedyShanahan2024 pic.twitter.com/BjPywr6OTy
— x 🛡️ (@kiwifoto) July 31, 2024
In Florida, for example, Kennedy will be on the ballot as a candidate of the Reform Party, and in Michigan he will appear as the nominee of the Natural Law Party.
In California, he will be represented by the American Independent Party—the former party of Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who notoriously received 46 electoral votes as a third-party candidate in 1968 on a staunch segregationist campaign.
In Colorado, the state’s Libertarian Party opted to nominate Kennedy, a jab to their national candidate, Chase Oliver, who was officially designated the party’s nominee at their party’s convention in Washington D.C.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shares many of the Libertarian Party’s core principles, including a commitment to civil liberties, free markets, and a non-interventionist foreign policy,” announced the Libertarian Party of Colorado on their official X page.
Libertarian Party of Colorado (LPCO) Announces Partnership with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Campaign
The Libertarian Party of Colorado Board of Directors passed a resolution voting in favor of a groundbreaking partnership with the independent presidential campaign of @RobertKennedyJr…
— Libertarian Party of Colorado (@LPCO) July 3, 2024
Kennedy and former President Donald Trump both addressed the Libertarian National Convention last May as they hoped to earn the support of the third party that has failed to receive a single Electoral College vote since 1972.
Alongside legal challenges, Kennedy’s campaign has been marred by recent scandals, including a recent confession that he dumped a dead bear in New York’s Central Park in 2014.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he dumped a dead bear in Central Park to make it look like it had gotten run over by a bicyclist.
The comments came during a video RFK posted to Instagram. What a an absolutely weird story. What a freak! pic.twitter.com/3HFnhKufKP
— MAGA Elvis 🇺🇸 (@BenStanton77) August 4, 2024
In July, shortly after Trump’s assassination attempt, his son leaked a video of Trump reportedly attempting to entice Kennedy into withdrawing from the race and joining his team.
The leak from Kennedy’s son led to widespread outrage from Republicans, leading Kennedy to publicly apologize to Trump. He further claimed he was “mortified” when he discovered the video had been posted online without his consent.
🚨JUST ANNOUNCED: President Trump’s call to RFK Jr after the assignation attempt.
Trump talked about how vaccines were injuring children.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologizes after footage was released by the 'videographer' of his conversation with President Trump. 🤔🤔🤔
RFK Jr… pic.twitter.com/FUDjMF6xyA
— AJ Huber (@Huberton) July 16, 2024
Influential podcaster Joe Rogan recently became the subject of controversy after praising Kennedy on his show.
Rogan’s praise of Kennedy led Trump to attack him on the platform Truth Social, posting “It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring??? MAGA2024.”
In a match-up between Trump, Kennedy, and Vice President Kamala Harris, Kennedy holds 4% national support among registered voters, according to an August 7 poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.
Follow Elias Irizarry at twitter.com/eliasforsc.
