The Democrat-majority Michigan Supreme Court on Monday backed Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s attempt to keep Robert Kennedy Jr. on the November ballot.
Kennedy put his Natural Law presidential candidacy in mothballs and threw his support behind Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, prompting Benson’s determination to keep him on the ballot — a move many Republicans said was an attempt to boost the chances of Democrat challenger Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Now countless Michigan voters may be deluded and deceived into casting their ballots for a candidate who has no intention to hold the office,” wrote two dissenting justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano.
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Kennedy had sued Benson in her official SOS capacity to remove himself from the ballot. The Michigan Court of Appeals last Friday overturned a lower court ruling that kept Kennedy on the ballot. Friday was the deadline for the SOS to provide county clerks notice of the candidates scheduled to appear on the ballot.
According to Monday’s majority Supreme Court decision, Kennedy “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.”
Court victories such as Monday’s are a rare legal win for Benson, who was dubbed the “most partisan Secretary of State in recent memory” by former Michigan Secretary of State and current state Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly.
In a 3-0 decision by the MI Court of Appeals, RFK Jr name is to be taken off the #2024Election ballot. MI SoS @JocelynBenson used MCL 168.686a(4) as basis of keeping RFK Jr on the ballot against his wishes. Under this section of law, candidates are not allowed to withdraw. It… pic.twitter.com/gMFfHyFIqh
— Patrick Colbeck✝️ (@pjcolbeck) September 9, 2024
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“In a 3-0 decision by the MI Court of Appeals, RFK Jr name is to be taken off the #2024Election ballot. MI SoS @JocelynBenson used MCL 168.686a(4) as basis of keeping RFK Jr on the ballot against his wishes. Under this section of law, candidates are not allowed to withdraw. It turns out that MCL 168.686 is the governing statute for presidential candidates. Under this section of law, there are no such prohibitions upon withdrawal. That makes NINE losses in court for the former Dean of the Wayne State University Law School whose legal counsel has admitted to her having contempt for the law,” reads a post on X.
Late last month, Benson was handed another court defeat when she attempted to keep independent candidate Cornel West off the ballot.
In a phone conversation with The Midwesterner, Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Twp., also called Benson’s legal challenge a partisan issue.
“Secretary Benson routinely makes these decisions and provides directives that are contrary to law or not in law. In fact you know we even know her to violate the Constitution. She talks a lot about misinformation but she really is a champion of misinforming.”
Bollin continued: “I think what’s most interesting is given Benson puts herself out there as a champion for the clerks understands the timing of these ballots. With this general election our first major election with early voting, she has made the decision after being struck down by a Court of Appeals to go to a friendly court, the Michigan Supreme Court, and you know one that includes a candidate for Supreme Court that she is contributed to in I think the maximum amount. That’s just the perception that you know she’s trying to buy a favorable decision.”