The Democratic Party will try to remove RFK Jr. from the ballot in Washington

By Jerry Cornfield / The Washington Standard

State and federal Democratic Party leaders are joining forces to push presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the ballot in Washington.

The Washington State Democratic Party planned to appeal Friday the Secretary of State’s decision that Kennedy qualified for the election in November. He is one of nine candidates from smaller parties released for voting by state election officials on Tuesday.

“We believe that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign did not follow the rules. We don’t think they can prove it,” said Stephen Reed, communications director for the state party.

Party Chairwoman Shasti Conrad is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in Thurston County Superior Court. The Democratic National Committee is bearing the costs, Reed said.

Representatives of the Kennedy campaign did not respond to an email request for comment. On Friday, the campaign released a press release and updates his efforts to get Kennedy on the ballot in all 50 states.

Washington State law According to the newspaper, presidential candidates from minor parties can qualify by collecting signatures from at least 1,000 registered voters at one or more party conventions. These conventions must be held between the first Saturday in May and the fourth Saturday in July, and a convention can also be a gathering of as few as 100 registered voters.

On August 9, lawyers for the state Democratic Party called on the Foreign Minister not to certify Kennedy’s nomination on the grounds that the 4,181 signatures submitted in his name in June were not collected at a legitimate party convention.

State law states that an appeal from a Secretary of State’s decision must be filed within five days and that any challenge “must be heard and finally determined by the Court within five days of filing.”