Kennedy Battles DNC In New York Court

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Brooklyn on May 1. Photo by Jason Schott.

Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spent the week testifying at the Albany County Supreme Court, defending himself in a lawsuit in which the DNC is trying to remove him from the ballot in New York.

On May 28, at the conclusion of the state's six-week petitioning period, the Kennedy campaign submitted 135,519 signatures, a record for a presidential candidate in New York. (please click here for our coverage from that day).

Clear Choice PAC, a DNC super PAC focused on attacking independent candidates, brought the lawsuit, as it seeks to invalidate Kennedy’s petition by making the allegation that he has falsely claimed a residence in New York. 

“This case is an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The DNC has become a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process.”

In the four-day trial, Kennedy's attorneys demonstrated his deep ties to New York, which has been his primary residence since 1964, when his father, Robert F. Kennedy, became the state's Senator. Kennedy is registered to vote here, his fishing and falconry licenses are from New York, where he keeps his beloved falcons. His law office is here, pays taxes to New York State, and most importantly, has never claimed any other state as a residency. Kennedy intends to move back to New York as soon as his wife, Cheryl Hines of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fame, retires from acting.

This is just the latest ballot access challenge the Kennedy campaign has faced, and it has a perfect record of fending them off, with victories in Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Utah.

Presidential candidates must use the same residence across all 50 states, and several states require candidates to use the state in which they have their voter registration on their ballot access petitions. In observance of this, Kennedy used his New York address on his ballot access petitions, as doing otherwise would have led to lawsuits and exclusion from state ballots.

The 12th Amendment guarantees all American adults of sufficient age the right to run for President, even if their work takes them out of their home state, the one in which they are registered to vote and intend to return.

In a statement on Thursday, his campaign sees this as part of a pattern: "As the Kennedy campaign has won ballot access battles nationwide — submitting two, three, and even four times the number of validated signatures required to qualify in each state — the DNC is pouring millions into a legal crusade against Kennedy, resorting to frivolous and often comical efforts to stop people from casting their votes for him...

"The Kennedy campaign is mounting the strongest independent challenge to the corporate-funded parties in more than 30 years. Last week, the campaign surpassed more than 1 million signatures collected nationwide. Kennedy has received more signatures from Americans to get on the ballot than any other candidate in U.S. history. Rather than making a positive case for their nominee, the Democratic Party is politicizing our nation’s courtrooms in an effort to restrict voters’ rights to choose the candidate they like best."

On Monday, with the latest ballot access update, the Kennedy campaign has collected the signatures needed for ballot access in 42 states totaling 490 electoral votes, which is now 91 percent of the 538 total electoral votes nationwide. It now needs just 48 more electoral votes to complete the campaign's aim of being on the ballots of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (please click here to read our full coverage)