NATIONAL NEWS

Judge rules Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name will stay on Wisconsin ballot

Sep 16, 2024, 2:27 PM

Former Independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. waves to the crowd as he arrives ...

Former Independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. waves to the crowd as he arrives on stage prior to speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name will remain on the presidential ballot in swing state Wisconsin, a judge ruled Monday after concluding that candidates must remain on the ballot unless they die.

Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke’s decision marks the latest twist in Kennedy’s push to remove himself from ballots in key battleground states where the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is tight.

Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump. Kennedy said he would try to get his name removed from ballots in battleground states while telling his supporters that they could continue to back him in the majority of states where they are unlikely to sway the outcome.

Kennedy won a court order in North Carolina earlier this month to remove his name from ballots there. Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled last week that he’ll remain on that state’s ballot, however.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin on Sept. 3 seeking a court order removing him from the ballot. He argued that third-party candidates are discriminated against because state law treats Republicans and Democrats running for president differently.

He pointed out that Republicans and Democrats have until 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September before an election to certify their presidential nominee but independent candidates like himself can only withdraw before the Aug. 6 deadline for submitting nomination papers.

Ehlke denied Kennedy’s request in no uncertain terms. He ruled that Wisconsin statutes clearly state that once candidates file valid nomination papers they will remain on the ballot unless they die.

“The statute is plain on its face,” the judge said.

Ehlke went on to note that many county clerks have already sent out ballots for printing ahead of Wednesday’s deadline with Kennedy’s name on them.

Kennedy’s attorneys had suggested the clerks cover his name with stickers, the standard practice when a candidate dies. The judge rejected that idea, calling it a logistical nightmare and questioning whether the stickers would gum up tabulating machines. He also noted there could be opportunities for litigation if clerks failed to cover his name on any number of ballots.

“Mr. Kennedy has no one to blame but himself if he didn’t want to be on the ballot,” Ehlke said.

Kennedy’s attorneys took the unusual step of asking a state appellate court to take the case days before Ehlke ruled in hopes of expediting an appellate ruling. The 2nd District Court of Appeals has been waiting for Ehlke’s ruling before deciding whether to take the case. Online court records didn’t indicate any immediate action from the appellate court after the ruling.

The presence of independent and third-party candidates on the ballot could be a key factor in Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by between 5,700 votes and about 23,000 votes.

In 2016, Green Party nominee Jill Stein got just over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin — more than Trump’s winning margin of just under 23,000 votes. Some Democrats have blamed her for helping Trump win the state and the presidency that year.

___

Associated Press writer Scott Bauer in Madison contributed to this report.

National News

A pumpjack operates in the foreground as wind turbines at the Buckeye Wind Energy wind farm rise in...

Associated Press

Trump 2.0 will alter global climate fighting efforts. Will others step up?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Global efforts to fight climate change stumbled but survived the last time Donald Trump was elected president and withdrew the United States from an international climate agreement. Other countries, states, cities and businesses picked up some of the slack. But numerous experts worry that a second Trump term will be more damaging, […]

47 minutes ago

FILE - A voter deposits his voting machine activation card into a box after casting his ballot at a...

Associated Press

AP VoteCast: How Donald Trump built a winning 2024 coalition

WASHINGTON (AP) — Big shifts within small groups and small shifts within big groups helped propel Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The Republican candidate won by holding onto his traditional coalition — white voters, voters without a college degree and older voters — while making crucial gains among younger voters and Black and […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Southern California wildfire destroys 132 structures as officials look for fierce winds to subside

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — Southern California firefighters working to contain a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures in two days could be assisted by a forecast of fierce wind gusts easing early Friday, officials said. The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to 32 square miles (about 83 square kilometers) […]

3 hours ago

FILE - President Joe Biden talks with the U.S. Border Patrol and local officials, as he looks over ...

Associated Press

Judge strikes down Biden administration program shielding immigrant spouses from deportation

A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens. The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Llamas on the loose on Utah train tracks after escaping owner

PROVO, Utah (AP) — A small herd of domestic llamas was spotted taking an evening stroll on the train tracks in Provo, Utah, on Thursday after the woolen creatures escaped from their owner, according to the Utah Transit Authority. Several emergency responders were dispatched to round up the five llamas after transit officials received reports […]

7 hours ago

FILE - A hearse and debris can be seen at the rear of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, Oct. 5, 20...

Associated Press

The Colorado funeral home owners accused of letting 190 bodies decompose are set to plead guilty

DENVER (AP) — The husband and wife owners of a funeral home accused of piling 190 bodies inside a room-temperature building in Colorado while giving grieving families fake ashes were expected to plead guilty Friday, charged with hundreds of counts of corpse abuse. The discovery last year shattered families’ grieving processes. The milestones of mourning […]

8 hours ago

Judge rules Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name will stay on Wisconsin ballot