The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must stay on the state’s November ballot.
RFK Jr. wanted his name removed after he suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump.
The state said no. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher P. Yates agreed with the state.
RFK Jr. appealed. The Michigan Court of Appeals reversed Yates’s decision.
Well, the state took RFK Jr. to the state supreme court.
The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and ruled that RFK Jr. didn’t show “an entitlement to this extraordinary relief” to remove himself from the ballot:
To obtain the extraordinary remedy of a writ of mandamus, the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that: “(1) the plaintiff has a clear, legal right to performance of the specific duty sought, (2) the defendant has a clear legal duty to perform, (3) the act is ministerial, and (4) no other adequate legal or equitable remedy exists that might achieve the same result.” Taxpayers for Mich Constitutional Gov’t v Michigan, 508 Mich 48, 82 (2021), quoting Rental Props Owners Ass’n of Kent Co v Kent Co Treasurer, 308 Mich App 498, 518 (2014). “ ‘A ministerial act is one in which the law prescribes and defines the duty to be performed with such precision and certainty as to leave nothing to the exercise of discretion or judgment.’”
The court added: Assuming, without deciding, that the Court of Appeals was correct in its interpretation of MCL 168.686a(4), plaintiff has 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, let alone identified a source of law written with “ ‘such precision and certainty as to leave nothing to the exercise of discretion or judgment.’”
The order did not say how the justices voted. However, the court Democrat-nominated justices have a 4-3 majority.
Two Republican-nominated justices wrote a dissenting opinion:
The Secretary’s duty to maintain the integrity of Michigan elections includes an obligation to present actual candidates and associate them with the offices that they are seeking. By requiring Kennedy’s name to appear on the general election ballot, the Secretary of State is improperly and needlessly denying the electorate a choice between persons who are actual candidates willing to serve if elected. We can only hope that the Secretary’s misguided action—now sanctioned with the imprimatur of this Court—will not have national implications.
Before Republicans get mad, the same court refused to listen to an appeal to remove Cornel West from the ballot.
The Democrats tried to remove West, but Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford ruled that Cornel West and his running mate Melina Abdullah can appear on Michigan’s presidential ballot in November.
Attorney Mark Brewer, who used to chair the state’s party, filed an appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals. He “represents Rosa Holliday, a Michigan voter, in the ballot eligibility dispute.”
The Michigan Court of Appeals agreed with Redford.
Brewer went to the Michigan State Court, which refused to pick up the appeal, which leaves the lower court’s ruling in place.
Green party candidate Jill Stein is also on the Michigan ballot.
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