Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to decide whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stays on ballot

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’s name should stay on the fall presidential ballot.

Kennedy has been trying to get his name off ballots in key battleground states since he suspended his campaign in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump. At the same time, he’s said his supporters could continue backing him in most other states where votes for him won’t likely sway the outcome.

Earlier this month the North Carolina Supreme Court removed him from the ballot while the Michigan Supreme Court and a federal judge in Detroit said his name would remain.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin on Sept. 3 seeking an order to scratch his name. A Dane County judge, however, said candidates must remain on the ballot unless they die.

The state Supreme Court agreed with a request to leapfrog a Wisconsin appeals court and settle the dispute. It said the justices will read briefs and likely decide without hearing arguments, and that a decision will emerge as “expeditiously as possible.”

Lawyers for the Wisconsin Elections Commission said the case needs a swift resolution since clerks have already started sending absentee ballots with Kennedy’s name.