Campaign Issues Defiant Statement Announcing Appeal of Ballot Decision

BEDFORD, NY — Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a combative statement announcing that his campaign has filed an appeal of the New York ballot access case following a judge's ruling against his Katonah residency on Monday.

"Judge Ryba’s ruling is an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot. The Democratic Party is unrecognizable to me," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the statement. "The party of my father and uncle’s time was committed to expanding voters’ rights and understood that competition at the ballot box is an essential part of American democracy. The DNC is now a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process."

Kennedy campaign Senior Counsel Paul A. Rossi said that the ruling was both politically motivated and wrong on the spirit and letter of the law.

"The lower court judge in this case shockingly announced in open court that she intended to ignore whether the New York residency rules violated the federal Constitution," Rossi said. "New York residency rules were passed to prevent state and local politicians from carpetbagging into legislative districts in which they do not reside. These rules have no application to presidential candidates because the entire nation is their electoral district — it is impossible for a presidential candidate to engage in the type of carpetbagging the New York residency rules aim to prevent in state elections. The Supreme Court held in Anderson v. Celebrezze that local election rules cannot be applied to deny presidential candidates ballot access in a national election."

Trial attorney William F. Savino of Woods Oviatt Gilman, representing the campaign in this case, said that the judge refused to consider evidence that would have led to Kennedy's name remaining on the ballot.

"The Kennedy campaign filed its appeal today based on numerous arguments passed over by the trial court," Savino said. "The judge refused to address the unconstitutionality of New York placing higher restrictions on candidate residency than allowed by the 12th amendment, the absence of voter confusion, and Mr. Kennedy’s good faith use of his Katonah address based on his reliance on counsel."

Kennedy announced last week that the campaign has collected enough signatures for ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Kennedy campaign pointed out that it has won ballot access legal challenges across the country, including in Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Utah.