A bid to toss independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from the New Jersey Ballot remains alive – just not in Superior Court.
Mercer County Assignment Judge Robert Lougy today ruled that petition challenges for a presidential candidate must begin with the New Jersey Secretary of State, and a challenge would then be handled by an administrative law judge.
“The Court makes no conclusions regarding the merits of Plaintiff’s claims for relief or Kennedy’s arguments to the contrary,” Lougy wrote in his opinion. “No facts are in dispute.”
The Secretary of State, Tahesha Way, took no position on the merits of a lawsuit filed by prominent election lawyer Scott Salmon arguing that Kennedy’s independent candidacy would violate New Jersey’s Sore Loser Law, since he previously sought the Democratic nomination for president.
The deadline for independent presidential candidates to file to be on the New Jersey ballot is 4 PM today; the deadline to challenge those petitions is August 2 at 4 PM.
Salmon told the New Jersey Globe that he will file an objection with Way and the Division of Elections.