MADISON – Wisconsin lawmakers this week sent Gov. Tony Evers a bill that seeks to avoid a scenario that played out during the 2024 presidential election when independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was blocked in attempting to take his name off the ballot in an effort to widen President Donald Trump’s vote tally.
The bill allows independent candidates for president and all candidates for statewide and legislative offices to remove their names from ballots before Election Day — a move currently barred for all reasons except death.
Kennedy sought to remove his name from ballots in Wisconsin and other swing states after ending his presidential campaign as an independent candidate and endorsing Trump.
He was ultimately unsuccessful in the Badger State after the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied his request.
“This proposal recognizes that real-world circumstances may impact a candidate’s decision to continue through Election Day and eliminates unnecessary voter confusion by creating a process for candidates to remove their name from the ballot if certain criteria are met,” Rep. David Steffen of Green Bay and Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine said in a memo to colleagues Oct. 14 seeking support for the idea.
The proposal would apply to independent candidates for president and vice president and candidates for Congress, governor and other statewide and legislative offices.
District attorneys would not be subject to the new rule, if approved by lawmakers and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
The candidates must seek to remove their names before their candidacy is certified by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission and pay a $1,000 fee for national and statewide offices and $250 for legislative offices, under the proposal.
Current law requires anyone who files nomination papers and qualifies to appear on the ballot to remain on the ballot that voters see that election cycle. Only death may trigger a change.
The proposal also requires the elections commission to create a new process to verify the authenticity of sworn statements submitted by the candidates who seek to have their names removed from the ballot.
Republicans in 2024 pushed to have Kennedy’s name removed from ballots in battleground states out of concerns his presence could draw votes away from Trump. In Wisconsin, more Republicans than Democrats supported Kennedy, according to data from the Marquette University Law School Poll.
Kennedy also unsuccessfully sought to remove his name from the ballot in Michigan.
Trump won both states with a larger margin than Kennedy received in votes. Trump went on to select Kennedy as his secretary of Health and Human Services.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill to let candidates like RFK Jr. to exit ballot passes in Wisconsin
