Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent candidate, won’t be on the ballot in New York this November. A judge ruled Kennedy had falsely claimed he lived in New York. The judge said the place he used as his New York address wasn’t a real home but a fake address he used to stay registered to vote there.
Judge Christina Ryba said that Kennedy has a history of using friends’ addresses and other places to keep his voter registration in New York, even though he lives in California.
She explained that using a friend’s address for voting and political reasons while spending little time there doesn’t count as living there, according to the election laws. Allowing this would create a risky situation and open the door to fraud and manipulation, which the election residency rules are meant to prevent.
Kennedy’s listed address is just one room in a friend’s house in Katonah, which is about 40 miles away from Manhattan. During the trial, he mentioned that he’s only slept in that room once since he moved in because he’s been traveling a lot for his presidential campaign, according to The Associated Press.
Barbara Moss, who owns the house, said Kennedy pays her $500 monthly rent. However, she also pointed out that Kennedy didn’t make his first rent payment until after a New York Post article questioned whether he lived there.
Ryba based her ruling on the photos of the room provided as evidence. She said it was unlikely Kennedy would live in the small spare bedroom with his wife, family, pets, and all his things.
Clear Choice Action challenged Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s inclusion on the New York ballot. This group, which supports the Democratic Party, has been challenging Kennedy and other third-party candidates in different states to prevent them from appearing on the ballot.
The Kennedy campaign was upset about the decision and said they would appeal it. RFK Jr. said that Democrats were disrespecting democracy. He claimed they don’t think they can win the election fairly, so they’re trying to stop people from having a choice. He promised they would appeal the decision and win.
If the appeal is rejected, this successful challenge might lead to more challenges like it in other states. Kennedy used the New York address to sign up for candidacy in many states.
Kennedy has said he will be on the ballot in 46 states, which have a total of 329 electoral votes. However, he’s only been confirmed for 15 states so far.
The blow followed a victory in North Carolina on Monday when a judge ruled he could stay on the ballot.
Last month, the North Carolina State Board of Elections decided that Kennedy’s party, the We the People Party, did qualify to be on the state’s ballot. Wake County Superior Court judge Keith Gregory turned down an appeal to change that decision.
The group Clear Choice Action, which supports the Democratic Party, was the first to complain, saying the We the People Party shouldn’t be allowed on the ballot. They also texted some voters who signed the party’s petitions to check for any problems with the signatures.
The state Democratic Party said that the 4-1 vote to allow the We the People Party on the ballot was unfair. They claim that Kennedy’s party was created to get around stricter rules for individual candidates.
However, at the end of the hearing, Judge Gregory said he had just been asked to check the law. He agreed that the state board hadn’t broken it,
The We the People Party needed 13,000 signatures to get on the ballot, while Kennedy would have required over 80,000 signatures by himself. Clear Choice Action argued that this was unfair.
However, the lawyers for We the People Party said that state law only needs a new party to have a purpose, even if it’s just to get one candidate on the ballot. The judge agreed with them.
Last month, the state board handled a similar issue with Cornel West’s Justice for All Party. Some of his supporters sued the state over that decision.
Democrats have been determined to undermine the Democratic process and keep RFK Jr. off the ballot. At this point, his campaign has been called a “spoiler” for both parties. Both Republicans and Democrats fear that his supporters will draw votes away from their candidates in November.
