US Supreme Court rejects RFK Jr’s challenge to New York ballot rules

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By Andrew Chung

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s challenge to election requirements in New York that led to his removal from the ballot in the state before the 2024 presidential election.

It was the second time the justices rebuffed a bid by Kennedy, who now serves as the top health official in President Donald Trump’s administration, to reverse the decision by state courts to disqualify him for claiming an invalid address as his residence in paperwork. 

The justices in September denied his request to order New York election officials to reinstate his name on the ballot even though he had suspended his campaign as an independent for president and endorsed Trump, a Republican. 

When Kennedy suspended his campaign last August, he pledged to withdraw in the most closely contested states but remain on the ballot elsewhere. Kennedy then urged his supporters everywhere to back Trump and withdrew from the ballot in a number of Republican-leaning states. 

His fight to stay on the ballot in Democratic-leaning New York emerged after a state judge ruled in favor of a challenge by individual voters who claimed Kennedy deceptively provided a false New York residence on his petition to get on the ballot – in violation of state law – when he actually lives in California . 

The judge agreed, calling it a “sham” address that he used “for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration and furthering his own political aspirations in this state.” A state appeals court upheld the decision. 

Kennedy’s lawyers had told the Supreme Court that New York’s election residency rules are unlawful, including because they impose an additional qualification to be president beyond what is set out in Article II of the U.S. Constitution. 

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)