How Jocelyn Benson Does Voter Suppression
She tried to kick Cornel West off the ballot to help Harris, and now is keeping RFK on to hurt Trump
It’s the job of the Michigan Secretary of State to facilitate ballot access for candidates who want to run for office and ballot removal for candidates who withdraw. This isn’t hard. Except in the bizarro world of Jocelyn Benson.
In theory, she should be a public servant who happens to be a Democrat. But with Trump and Harris running tight in Michigan, Benson is putting party over state.
Where third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West are concerned, she has tried to deny ballot access to the candidate who wants it (West), while forcing it on the candidate who doesn’t want it (Kennedy).
Benson found, after a complaint from a Democrat operative, that West’s campaign paperwork was not in order and that the violation was disqualifying for ballot access. A federal court found otherwise, and West will appear on the ballot.
As for RFK, “minor party candidates cannot withdraw,” a Benson aide explained. The law is the law, basically. Especially when it rigs the game against Donald Trump.
Every bit of lawfare, every day in court, every filing are meant to tie up the energy and time third parties need to win votes. You can’t challenge the two-party system when you’re bled dry by your lawyers.
Which is the point of it all.
