BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A New York state Supreme Court judge said there is "clear and convincing credible evidence" Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not in fact reside in New York, despite claiming residency in petitions his campaign circulated in May.

New York state Election Commissioners Association Democratic Caucus Chair Dustin Czarny said as a result, the court disqualified RFK from appearing on the November presidential ballot.

"I think, telling people where you live is actually kind of a low threshold where to cross. It's an easy question to answer for most people and I think that's something that Mr. Kennedy should have taken into account before he filed his paperwork," Czarny said.

The court sided with Clear Choice Action, a Democratic Party-aligned political action committee, which argued Kennedy actually lives in California. Larry Sharpe, the outreach coordinator for the American Values 2024 PAC which supports RFK, said the judge made the wrong decision.

"The goal is just to get him off the ballot," Sharpe said. "The goal is to save democracy we have to destroy democracy."

The judge found the spare bedroom Kennedy claimed to be renting in New York was a "sham" address and concluded other factors to be irrelevant. Sharpe pointed out Kennedy has been registered to vote, works and has a drivers license in the state and it was reasonable for him to believe he had residency.

"Maybe it's an error. Okay, I buy that. A misunderstanding of New York state law, perhaps. If that's true, remedy it. But why would you pull someone off the ballot?" Sharpe asked.

Czarny won't speculate why Kennedy listed New York when he would still qualify for the ballot as a California resident but believes the judge took a strict interpretation of the state's law.

"We're talking about a candidate for office and the burden on candidates to be truthful or forthcoming in their paperwork is higher than a normal standard," he said.

The Kennedy campaign plans to appeal and Sharpe said he's confident the appeal will be successful.

"Within two weeks, we'll have at least one appeal done and that should be the end. We shouldn't need more than one appeal. We might need two. It's possible. It depends on how scared the next judge is," he said.

Czarny said it's important appeals move quickly as the state Board of Elections must certify ballots by Sept. 11 so counties can send out absentee ballots on Sept. 20.

In a statement, Clear Choice said the ruling made clear Kennedy "intentionally mislead elections officials and betrayed voter trust." The PAC also said Kennedy is constitutionally ineligible for any electoral votes in California because both he and his runningmate are from the state.