Share and Follow
Background: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign event, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard). Background: Submitted ballots fill organizing crates at the Multnomah County Elections Office on November 2, 2020 in Portland, Oregon (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images).
A government watchdog group has filed a complaint with the New York State Board of Elections accusing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of committing felony election fraud by registering and voting from an Empire State residence “at which he does not legally reside,” according to the complaint.
Donald Trump‘s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services “knowingly” violated New York’s Election Law by voting from the New York address, according to Accountable.US, which describes itself online as a “nonpartisan, 501(c)3 organization that shines a light on special interests that too often wield unchecked power and influence in Washington and beyond.” The left-leaning group filed its complaint on Monday, Jan. 6, and sent out a press release on Wednesday announcing it.
“Not actually living in New York in the eyes of the law apparently did not stop Kennedy from casting his election ballot there illegally,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk in a statement. “If RFK Jr. is so dismissive of the law in his personal matters, how can he be trusted to properly apply the law when it comes to our public health? Senators should press Kennedy on whether he intends to play by his own rules and thumb his nose at the law as HHS Secretary, like President-elect Trump is wont to do.”
According to Accountable.US and its complaint, Kennedy — who has drawn strong criticism for his stances on COVID-19, vaccines and fluoride, among other things — sent his 2024 election ballot by mail to the Westchester County board of elections on Nov. 2. The address that was listed as his primary residence was a home on Croton Lake Road in Katonah, which is about 45 miles north of New York City in Westchester County.
More from Law&Crime: ‘Very unusual’: Thomas overrides Kagan in COVID-related First Amendment case where RFK Jr. serves as cocounsel, sends dispute to full court
New York law states that any person who “knowingly votes or offers or attempts to vote at any election, when not qualified; or … Votes or offers or attempts to vote at an election … in an election district or from a place where he does not reside” is guilty of committing felony voter fraud. Accountable.US. notes how this has come up as a problem for Kennedy in the past.
“The issue of Mr. Kennedy’s residence was recently litigated in New York courts as a core question in a dispute about his ability to appear as a candidate for President of the United States on New York ballots,” the group’s complaint says. “In August 2024, the Albany County Supreme Court found that Mr. Kennedy did not legally reside in his claimed New York address under New York election law. … The address at issue in that case is the same one that public records show he voted from in the 2024 November general election.”
For that case, the court held that “petitioners have demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the Katonah address listed in the nominating petition was not Kennedy’s residence under the election law,” according to the Accountable.US complaint. It noted that in the “15 months that Kennedy claimed the Katonah address was his residence, he admittedly only spent one night there and that was after he filed his nominating petition and after the media had questioned his stated residence,” the complaint says.
“It also was not until this time that he began paying rent,” according to Accountable.US. “As the defendant in this case, Mr. Kennedy was clearly aware of the verdicts holding that he was not a legal resident of this Katonah address. Despite this undisputable knowledge, Mr. Kennedy voted from the property anyway. By knowingly voting from a residence that several New York courts had already determined was not his legal residence, Mr. Kennedy blatantly violated N.Y. Elec. Law § 17-132(3). By registering to vote at this address in the first place, Mr. Kennedy also likely violated N.Y. Elec. Law § 17-104(4).”
“Both acts are potential felonies for President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services,” the Accountable.US press release also says.
Kennedy, 70, has been in Washington, D.C., this week preparing to meet with senators before his confirmation proceedings begin, according to Politico. He is reportedly meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Finance Democrats Michael Bennet of Colorado, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Mark Warner of Virginia, Politico reports.
More from Law&Crime: ‘I only have one brain’: Florida city decides to remove fluoride from water supply shortly before Trump announced RFK Jr. as potential HHS head
Sanders is the top ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and has a seat on the Finance Committee that will vote to approve Kennedy. He and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., who is also expected to meet with Kennedy, have both shown support for the former 2024 presidential candidate and some of his “positions” on the health care industry.
“There has been some concern that Fetterman and Sanders have a favorable opinion of some of RFK’s, for instance, anti-Big Pharma positions,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat and a former doctor, told Politico on Wednesday as he flew to Washington to lobby for support in opposing Kennedy’s nomination.
“I suspect there are at least three to five [Republicans] who want this to not go to a vote,” Green said. “At least three to five of them, and that number is probably much larger.”