North Carolina judge denies RFK Jr.’s request to have his name removed from state ballots

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina judge on Thursday refused to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from presidential ballots in the key swing state, a day before the first batch of November absentee ballots were scheduled to be sent to registered voters who requested them.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Holt denied a temporary restraining order that Kennedy sought to prevent county elections boards from issuing ballots with his name on them and to order his removal. State law requires that the first absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 election be sent to applicants by Friday. Kennedy’s lawyer said the decision will be appealed, and Holt gave him 24 hours, meaning counties likely won’t send the ballots immediately on Friday morning.

Kennedy entered the race in July as the candidate of a new party, We The People, created by his supporters. The election commission officially recognized the party after collecting enough voter signatures. But Kennedy suspended his campaign two weeks ago and endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump. Since then, the environmentalist and author has sought to have his name removed from the ballot in several states where the race between Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is expected to be close.

In North Carolina, Kennedy and We the People of North Carolina wrote to the board asking that his name be withdrawn. But on Aug. 29, in a party-line vote, Democratic board members rejected the party’s request, calling it impractical given the efforts already underway to begin distributing ballots on Sept. 6. Kennedy sued the next day.

North Carolina is set to become the first state in the country to distribute fall ballots. County election offices were expected to send absentee ballots Friday to more than 125,000 voters in the state, military and overseas who requested them. And more than 2.9 million absentee and in-person ballots had already been printed statewide as of Wednesday, state Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said in a statement.

The process of reprinting ballots without Kennedy’s name and resubmitting ballot applications will take at least two weeks, state prosecutors said, threatening to fail to meet a federal requirement that ballots be made available to military and overseas voters by Sept. 21. But Kennedy’s lawyer, Phil Strach, argued in court that Kennedy complied with state law by filing a written request to withdraw from office, and that there is another law that allows for the ballots to be delayed in those circumstances. Otherwise, Kennedy’s free speech rights under the state constitution, forcing him to remain on the ballot against his will, were violated, Strach told Holt.

“This is a very simple matter of voting integrity and following the law,” Strach said, adding that leaving Kennedy on the ballot would confuse voters who would think he was no longer the candidate.

But Deputy Attorney General Carla Babb said confusion could ensue if the distribution of votes were delayed, potentially forcing the state to seek an exemption from the Sept. 21 federal deadline. State laws and regulations gave the election commission the ability to reject Kennedy’s recall based on whether reprinting the votes was practical, she said.

“Elections are not just a game, and states have no obligation to honor the whims of candidates for office,” Babb told Holt.

In denying Kennedy’s motion, Holt found that while the harm to Kennedy from allowing the ballots to remain in place is minor, the harm to the state election board from such an order would be significant, such as reprinting the ballots at significant cost to taxpayers.

While Kennedy was still an active candidate, the North Carolina Democratic Party unsuccessfully challenged in court the state legislature’s decision to grant We The People party status.

Kennedy sued Wisconsin on Wednesday to have his name removed from the presidential candidate list after the state election board voted to keep him on it. Kennedy also filed a lawsuit in Michigan, but a judge ruled Tuesday that he must remain on the list.