NORTH CAROLINA — A judge has denied Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name be removed as a presidential candidate option in this year’s election, just as the deadline for absentee ballots to be mailed looms.
READ MORE: RFK Jr. sues NC elections board to be removed from ballots as presidential candidate
Wake County Judge Rebecca Waters Holt heard the case Thursday, after Kennedy sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections for voting to keep him on the ballots last week. The Democratic-leaning board denied Kennedy’s name removal in a 3-2 party-line vote, noting it would be impractical as the ballots are already approved and mostly printed to meet the Sept. 6 absentee ballot deadline; 2.9 million have been printed as of Wednesday.
Kennedy’s lawyer, Phil Strach, argued in court Thursday that Kennedy followed the law by requesting his removal in writing and the inconvenience of administrative duties are not more important than confusing voters at the polls. More so, he maintained the board could delay the ballots, according to one state statute, and that keeping Kennedy’s name printed imposes on the candidate’s free speech rights by overlooking his request to withdraw.
“This is a very straightforward case about ballot integrity and following the law,” Strach said in court.
The state countered, with Special Deputy Attorney General Mary Carla Babb claiming Kennedy was essentially playing games in politics. Babb noted that during Kennedy’s public announcement of his withdrawal from the race on Aug. 23, he admitted he would keep his name on some ballots nationwide but ask to be removed from 10 battleground states, which Kennedy believed would affect the winning chances for his endorsed candidate, Donald Trump.
In a poll released by East Carolina University this week, taken between Aug. 26 and Aug. 28, it shows Trump has a razor-thin lead over Harris, 48% to 47%, with 2% claiming to vote for someone differently.
Even with Kennedy’s name on the ballot this election season, any votes checked for him will not count.
“Elections are not just a game and states are not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for office,” Babb informed the judge Thursday.
She added the entire process of reprinting the North Carolina election ballots — including proofing them at state and local levels and re-coding election machines — would take two weeks. By proxy, this would also affect the federal Sept. 21 deadline for ballots to be sent to military and overseas voters. The state would have to request a waiver to move this deadline, Babb told the judge.
Judge Holt, a Republican, ruled in favor of the state over Kennedy. She noted the costs to reprint the ballots for 100 counties — suspected to be upward of six figures and covered by tightly funded county boards of elections — is not one that should be carried by the taxpayers.
More so, on Friday the county boards of elections are supposed to mail ballots to meet state statute requirements, since this year absentees are to be sent 60 days before Election Day, Nov. 5.
Kennedy’s team asked Holt to hold her order for 24 hours so the lawyers could appeal the decision, to which she agreed. That puts the Friday deadline to send out absentee ballots in peril.
Port City Daily reached out to the three tri-county election boards to find out if they had received instructions from the state board of elections on how to move forward, given the timing of the case.
Greg Jackson, director from the Pender County Board of Elections, responded the counties were informed to refrain from mailing ballots on Friday morning as planned, unless otherwise instructed by the state board of elections.
Brunswick County Board of Elections Director Sara Lavere confirmed the email was sent by the state board’s general counsel, Paul Cox.
“At the end of that 24-hour period, ballots will need to go out, unless the Court of Appeals orders otherwise,” Cox wrote. “So it may be the case that ballots will need to be distributed tomorrow afternoon, because that is the deadline in state law. Or it may be the case that the Court of Appeals orders a further delay.”
Kennedy and the We the People Party asked to be added to the North Carolina ballots earlier in the spring, but the state board of elections’ vote was delayed by three weeks as it investigated the party’s petitioner signatures before certifying We the People Party. The board eventually voted 4-1 to make way for Kennedy to be included on the ballot in the presidential category.
This prompted the state Democratic Party to sue the state board of elections, claiming Kennedy skirted election laws by choosing to be added via a party rather than as an independent candidate; Kennedy has approached his presidential candidacy in various ways across the nation, choosing to be an independent candidate in some states or supported by a party in others.
In North Carolina, it meant he needed tens of thousands of fewer signatures to be viable for the ballot when backed by a party. Just two weeks ago a judge denied the North Carolina Democratic Party its request to remove Kennedy’s name from the ballot, stating Kennedy followed state statute and received the required 13,800 signatures to gain ballot access.
Kennedy has filed two other lawsuits in battleground states for his name’s removal, including in Wisconsin; an independent candidate cannot withdraw unless he or she dies.
In Michigan on Tuesday, a judge ruled Kennedy’s name would remain on the ballot after Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson denied his request in the “eleventh hour” of ballots being printed, according to the Detroit News.
Catch up on previous PCD coverage involving RFK Jr.’s election bid in the state:
- After battling for ballot access, RFK Jr. removal request is denied by NC board of elections
- RFK Jr. will remain on ballot in North Carolina, judge rules
- ‘Injustice for all’: State board of election approves RFK party for ballot, denies Cornel West
- RFK Jr., Cornel West still not on NC ballot, state BOE investigates petitions to add them
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