A Wake County judge has ruled against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s attempt to be removed from the North Carolina presidential ballots, finding that the harm Kennedy would suffer would be small compared to that facing the state Board of Elections. The judge granted Kennedy a 24-hour stay to appeal the decision.
Last week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) decided in an emergency meeting on Aug. 29 to reject a request from the We The People Party to remove Kennedy from the general election ballot. The board cited impracticality in reprinting ballots by the Sept. 6 deadline for mailing the first absentee ballots as a reason for their decision.
Kennedy filed a lawsuit the following day at the Wake County Superior Court, accusing the election board of causing him irreparable harm by refusing to remove his name from the ballot.
Wake Superior Court Judge Rebecca Holt ruled against Kennedy’s request on Sept. 5, stating that Kennedy would suffer minimal harm from having his name on the ballot, while the board would face considerable effort and cost in reprinting ballots. The judge granted Kennedy a 24-hour stay for the state Court of Appeals to weigh in on the matter, leaving the Sept. 6 deadline in question.
The state election board instructed county boards not to send out ballots on the morning of Sept. 6 unless they receive confirmation to do so from the state board. Ballots will need to be sent out at the end of the 24-hour period unless the appeals court intervenes.
Meanwhile, Kennedy’s attorney argued in court that Kennedy had followed state law by requesting to step down as a candidate and that keeping him on the ballot violated his free speech rights. State attorneys argued that reprinting ballots without Kennedy’s name would take at least two weeks, potentially missing a federal deadline for absentee ballots to be released.
The saga began after Kennedy, who initially fought to be listed as a third-party candidate on the North Carolina ballot, reversed course in late August and requested to have his name removed from 10 battleground states, including North Carolina. His campaign stated that voters in noncompetitive states were encouraged to continue supporting him, while in battleground states, Kennedy sought to avoid splitting the conservative vote.
“In about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler, I will remove my name and urge voters not to vote for me,” Kennedy said.
Polls conducted before Kennedy’s withdrawal suggest he held enough support in North Carolina to potentially impact the election outcome.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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