In a New York court, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced queries on Thursday regarding deceptive practices by some individuals gathering signatures for his presidential campaign to get him on the state’s ballot. Kennedy, who appeared virtually from California, admitted that some canvassers had concealed his name on petition sheets and used other misleading tactics. The lawsuit, supported by the Democratic National Committee, alleges that petition sheets had been manipulated to hide Kennedy’s and his running mate Nicole Shanahan’s names. Despite acknowledging responsibility for the petition submissions, Kennedy claimed he was not fully informed of the subcontractor’s activities.
New York mandates independent candidates to collect 45,000 signatures from voters to appear on the ballot. Kennedy’s campaign gathered significantly more than the required number, but concerns were raised in April and May about the authenticity of some signatures following a complaint from a voter and an article in The New York Times. Kennedy’s daughter-in-law and campaign manager, Amaryllis Kennedy, instructed the campaign staff not to use the questionable petitions collected by the subcontractor, suspecting errors that could jeopardize their candidacy.
During testimony, Kennedy revealed that the campaign identified around 8,000 signatures with creases, labeling them as potential fraud. An affidavit was created to rectify issues with remaining petitions, alongside over 12,000 signatures submitted to demonstrate voter support. However, plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that some manipulated pages were still submitted and canvassers misrepresented the purpose of the signatures. The subcontractor did not immediately respond for comments on the matter.
In a separate legal challenge, a judge had already prevented Kennedy from appearing on New York’s ballot for listing false residency information. Kennedy has appealed this decision, with a court set to review arguments next week. Similar ballot challenges have been mounted against him in other states by Democrats and their supporters.
