County Dem Chair accuses RFK Jr. of illegal voting

The house in question in Katonah, 84 Croton Lake Road. Recorder Photo

By JEF MORRIS 

In a letter sent to Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, county Democratic Committee Chair Suzanne Berger asks both to investigate whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have committed a felony.

The letter, dated Dec. 13, contends that Kennedy cast an illegal general election vote by returning a Westchester County absentee ballot using an address at 84 Croton Lake Road, Katonah.

That address was the one Kennedy had used as his residence earlier this year when seeking to appear on the ballot in New York as a presidential candidate. 

As recounted by Berger, “In August 2024, the Albany County Supreme Court ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was ineligible to appear on the ballot in the state of New York as a candidate for president of the United States due to falsely claiming a New York residence on nominating petitions, despite living out-of-state.”

The court had concluded that the bedroom he claimed to be renting in Katonah was not a bona fide and legitimate residence. The ruling called it a “sham” address that Kennedy used to maintain his voter registration in New York, despite living for over a decade in a home he and his wife own in Brentwood, Calif.

Kennedy appealed the ruling to the New York Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Both declined to hear the appeal, which left the court ruling in place. Kennedy dropped his presidential bid Aug. 23.

“Notwithstanding this definitive legal ruling,” wrote Berger, “Mr. Kennedy is recorded as having cast a Westchester County absentee ballot sent to him in October 2024, returned (presumptively by Mr. Kennedy) and accepted on November 2, 2024 for the 2024 general election.”

Berger’s complaint cites Section 17-132 of New York State Election Law, which states that any person who “knowingly votes or offers or attempts to vote in 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 a felony.” That same section also refers to anyone who, as “an applicant for an absentee voter’s ballot, makes a material false statement in his application.”

“By submitting an absentee ballot in or about October 2024 from an address ruled to be unusable for the purposes of establishing residency — that is, from a place where Mr. Kennedy did not reside — Mr. Kennedy broke the law,” said Berger. “Accordingly, I urge the Westchester County Office of the District Attorney and the Office of the New York State Attorney General to immediately commence an investigation into Mr. Kennedy’s actions and to take appropriate action to address this disregard of the law and the court rulings.”

Kennedy has since been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy could not be reached for comment. 

In August, in a statement on his campaign website, Kennedy called a judge’s earlier ruling on the residency case “an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot.” He accused the Democratic Party of being “a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process.”