Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)
A state Appeals Court panel on Friday said Robert F. Kennedy’s name must be removed from North Carolina ballots.
Counties were to begin mailing absentee ballots Friday with Kennedy on them, but the Appeals Court order now prevents it.
Kennedy fought to get his name on North Carolina ballots this year, then sued to get off. A Superior Court judge told him ‘no’ on Thursday, but the Appeals Court reverses that ruling. The Appeals Court sent the case back to Judge Rebecca Holt with the direction that she enter an order telling the state Board of Elections to distribute ballots without Kennedy’s name.
On Aug. 23, Kennedy announced he was suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump. He said he would have his name removed in 10 battleground states so as not to draw votes from the GOP presidential nominee.
Kennedy started a party called We the People to gain access to the ballot in North Carolina and a handful of other states.
Last Thursday, the state Board of Elections voted 3-2 to keep Kennedy on the ballot, with the Board’s Democratic majority arguing that it was too late and too expensive. Counties had already started printing ballots in preparation of mailing absentee ballots to voters on September 6.
The day after the Board’s vote, Kennedy filed a lawsuit challenging the decision.
Kennedy’s lawyer, Phil Strach, told the Superior Court judge Thursday that the State Board told counties to continue plowing ahead with ballot printing while knowing that Kennedy wanted to drop out.
It’s unclear how much it would cost the counties to print new ballots.
The state faces a Sept. 21 federal deadline to make absentee ballots available to people serving in the military and citizens overseas.