Kennedy to appear on Arkansas ballot even after leaving race

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the November ballot in Arkansas even after suspending his campaign last week and endorsing Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Kennedy announced the suspension of his campaign at an event in Phoenix on Friday.
“I cannot, in good conscience, ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours, or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House,” Kennedy told his supporters.
“My name will remain on the ballot in most states. If you live in a blue state, you can vote for me without harming, or helping, President Trump or Vice President Harris. In red states, the same will apply.”
“In about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name, and I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me,” Kennedy said.
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Soon afterwards, he appeared as a guest speaker at a nearby Trump campaign event.
In order to appear on the ballot in Arkansas, Kennedy’s campaign had to submit 5,000 signatures, roughly 1.5% of the number of registered voters in the state. On Aug. 1, the Kennedy campaign submitted more than 10,000 valid signatures, out of nearly 14,000 collected total, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
The deadline in Arkansas to make changes to the ballot was Aug. 22, one day before Kennedy made his announcement, and so he would have been unable to remove his name.
Kennedy’s name is likewise cemented on the ballot in several key battleground states that he may have wanted to withdraw from, including Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
Many observers expect his presence there may be more likely to draw votes away from Trump than from Vice President Kamala Harris, though by that same token, his exit may be worse news for the Harris camp.
While Arkansas is considered a deep red state almost guaranteed to vote for Trump come November, Kennedy will still technically be in play as a valid candidate.
“Per Arkansas law, votes for RFK will be counted as with any other candidate,” Chris Powell, a representative from Secretary of State John Thurston’s office, told the Arkansas Advocate.