Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cannot appear on the presidential ballot in New York come November, after a judge in the state ruled that he was falsely claiming that he lived in the state.
On Monday, Judge Christina Ryba ruled that RFK Jr. was using a room in the suburbs of New York City so he could claim residency in the state. She labeled that a “bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a ‘sham’ address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration.”
Because of the ruling, the independent presidential candidate will have an even harder time making waves in the election. New York’s 28 electoral votes are the fourth most in the country.
A group aligned with the Democratic Party, Clear Choice Action, filed the challenge to Kennedy’s residency status. That group has filed multiple legal challenges against Kennedy’s ballot access already, as well as that of other third-party candidates around the country.
As part of her ruling, Ryba wrote that photos that were submitted as part of evidence looked like they showed that the residence Kennedy was claiming to be his wasn’t legitimate.
As the judge wrote:
“Given the size and appearance of the spare bedroom as shown in the photographs admitted into evidence, the Court finds Kennedy’s testimony that he may return to that bedroom to reside with his wife, family members, multiple pets and all of his personal belongings to be highly improbable, if not preposterous.”
Ryba added that it’s been a “long-standing pattern” of Kennedy’s to use the addresses of some of his friends and other people so he could maintain a voter registration in New York. In actuality, though, he’s living in California.
As the judge wrote in the ruling:
“Using a friend’s address for political and voting purposes, while barely stepping foot on the premises, does not equate to residency under the Election Law. To hold otherwise would establish a dangerous precedent and open the door to the fraud and political mischief that the Election Law residency rules were designed to prevent.”
The address that Kennedy was using for his voter registration was a single room in the home of one of his friends. It’s located about 40 miles from downtown Manhattan, in a town called Katonah.
During the trial, Kennedy said he only slept in that room once since he moved because of the heavy travel schedule that his political campaign has necessitated, according to an Associated Press report.
The home is owned by Barbara Moss. She testified at trial that Kennedy pays her $500 every month for rent. She did note, though, that the first rent payment Kennedy made didn’t happen until after a story in the New York Post questioned the claim he made that he was a resident of New York.
Following the ruling, Kennedy’s campaign released a statement that said they would appeal, with Kennedy blaming Democrats for the decision.
In a statement, he said:
“The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy. They aren’t confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win.”
