In a legal filing Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the full bench of judges on a federal appeals court to let him remove his name from Michigan’s presidential ballot.
That is after a divided three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected his case. Kennedy also lost before the Michigan Supreme Court, although lower courts in the state split on the question. After his loss at the state Supreme Court, Kennedy turned to federal courts hoping for a different outcome.
Kennedy is challenging a determination by the Michigan Secretary of State that he missed the deadline to drop out of the race and that he cannot leave the Natural Law Party of Michigan without a presidential candidate after seeking and accepting its nomination.
The state also argues it is too late because ballots are being printed and absentee ballots are being mailed. Kennedy says, should he get his wish, a remedy for that could be posting signs at polling places to inform voters that votes for him will not be counted.
The next step would be for the state to file a response. There is no deadline for the court to act.
Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Kennedy then tried to get his name off battleground state ballots. At the same time, he was also in court in an unsuccessful effort to restore his name to the statewide New York ballot.
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