Third parties join RFK in lawsuit over ballot access

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — On Thursday, lawyers made closing arguments in a civil trial against Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. On the micro level, they sparred over where the presidential candidate lives; on the macro, whether the political duopoly has unfairly captured the electoral process in New York.

The independent presidential candidate wants to appear on New York’s ballot for the general election on November 5. But the lawsuit accused Kennedy of lying about living in the Empire State on official documentation. It claimed that he's lived in Los Angeles with his wife, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actress Cheryl Hines, since 2014.

According to the lawsuit, Kennedy had only ever visited the home he listed as his address when petitioning for state ballot access. Kennedy's legal team disagreed, arguing that he has lived in-state since age 10, pays New York taxes, pays rent, and keeps personal possessions at the Katonah house, also listed on his voter registration.

You can check out the lawsuit at the bottom of this story. A group of New York residents sued on June 10 with support from Clear Choice PAC, a Pres. Joe Biden-aligned super PAC opposing third parties. "Third-party candidates historically receive little scrutiny," they argue online.

Justice Christina Ryba will publish her ruling on the matter—which will likely be appealed—in the coming days. No jury heard the court proceedings, which began on Monday, July 5.

Also on July 5, the Libertarian and Green Parties of New York filed a motion to intervene in a related lawsuit. In May 2024, the Kennedy campaign sued over the state's strict ballot rules for independent candidates, and the established third parties hope to join as additional plaintiffs. You can read that lawsuit at the bottom of this story.

The Greens and Libertarians have sued before, in 2020. That's when they both lost ballot access, because then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo changed the rules during COVID. Before, qualifying for ongoing ballot access required that the party's candidate for governor won 50,000 votes.

Now, maintaining the ballot line requires getting 2% of the vote every two years in whichever race is at the top of the ticket. That math has worked out to roughly three times the number of votes as before. Cuomo also increased how many signatures a party candidate needed from 15,000 to 45,000.

That third-party ballot access lawsuit ended with a win for the state in 2023 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal. Ultimately, it meant that smaller parties and independent candidates must now jump through smaller loops, which, those parties claimed, limits the democratic process.

"We are filing a challenge to test the constitutionality and state interest in having such restrictive ballot access laws," said a spokesperson from the Jill Stein campaign. She's running as the Green candidate for president.

Kennedy's team maintains that he isn’t registered to vote, drive, or practice law there. And, they said, the 12th Amendment ensures that someone can run for president, even if they work outside their home state. Even so, Ryba excluded Constitutional arguments from the scope of the civil trial.

The Libertarian Party of New York tried and failed to get candidate for governor Larry Sharpe on the ballot in 2022, spending almost $300,000. This year, the Greens tried and failed to get Stein on the ballot, spending $368,000. The Kennedy campaign, meanwhile, spent over a million dollars on New York ballot access.

Kennedy briefly campaigned as a Democrat in this election cycle. But after the Democratic Party clarified that there would be no primary. With an incumbent on the ticket, Kennedy pivoted to independent.

"The ballot access drama that has played out during this campaign is part of a larger system that obstructs our democracy. First of all, ballot access is obscenely expensive, ensuring that only those with extreme amounts of wealth can get in the game. Secondly, ballot access has been weaponized against people like Bobby Kennedy Jr., as it was against Dean Phillips and myself," said Marianne Williamson, who also tried to mount a challenge to Biden from the left during Democratic primary season. "This is not how democracy should work. Whatever gatekeeping function should exist, it shouldn't be money, or media, or those seeking to keep people off ballots as a substitute for legitimate political debate."

The Associated Press contributed to this report