New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way has rejected a bid to toss independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. off the New Jersey ballot following his withdrawal from the race and his endorsement of Republican Donald Trump.
Kennedy never asked to be removed from the ballot in New Jersey.
“The Secretary of State’s office and the Division have not received any correspondence from RFK Jr. or his campaign indicating his withdrawal. Therefore, your request for the Division to issue a notice to show cause is denied,” wrote Donna Barber, the acting director of the state Division of Elections, in a letter to Parikh.
Last week, Raj Parikh, the counsel to the Democratic State Committee, sought to remove Kennedy from the ballot after he took steps to withdraw from the race in other states, including Pennsylvania and Arizona.
The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution empowers state officials to make a final determination over candidate eligibility in presidential elections, Parikh told Way.
He provided Way with Kennedy’s sworn affidavit to the Arizona Secretary of State where he affirmed that he “will not seek, hold, or accept election or appointment to the office of President.”
“Given this clear and unequivocal statement of intent under oath, RFK Jr.’s withdrawal from the presidential race should apply uniformly across all states, including New Jersey,” he said. “Because he has stated under oath that he will not seek, hold, or accept election to the office of President, he is no longer qualified to appear on the General Election ballot in New Jersey.”
Parikh viewed Kennedys under oath statement as an affirmation that he had revoked his candidate oath in New Jersey.
Kennedy filed a lawsuit to get his name removed from the ballot in another swing state, North Carolina, after the state Board of Elections denied his request.
If Democrats want to pursue their bid to remove Kennedy, they’ll need to get a judge to order it. It’s not clear if they want to go through the expense of doing that.