RFK sues to have name removed from NC ballot
By Carolina Journal Staff
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed suit Friday to have his name removed from North Carolina’s election ballot. Kennedy went to court a day after the State Board of Elections voted 3-2 to reject his request to drop his name from the list of presidential candidates.
The new We The People Party had selected Kennedy as its presidential candidate. The party won a court battle against the North Carolina Democratic Party in August to remain on the ballot. But Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race after that court victory. He endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
The state elections board’s three Democrats voted against removing Kennedy’s name from the ballot. The two Republican board members supported the request.
“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. timely complied with all requirements set forth under state law in order to remove his name from North Carolina's general election ballot,” wrote Kennedy’s lawyers. “This statutory compliance notwithstanding, NCSBE, in a 3-2 vote, declined to remove Kennedy from the ballot.”
“In reaching this conclusion, NCSBE ignored controlling statutes and instead elected to insert their own indeterminate, subjective ‘practicality’ standard in denying his request,” Kennedy’s complaint continued. “NCSBE cited no legal authority for its action, nor did it even feign an attempt to define what this test might entail.”
“At its core, NCSBE's ‘practicality’ test appears rooted in the cost of printing new ballots without Kennedy on them, but NCSBE concedes it was aware of at least Kennedy's desire
to remove himself from the ballot since August 23, 2024,” the lawsuit added. “Nevertheless, NCSBE directed its County Boards of Election to continue printing ballots with Kennedy on them. Thus, to the extent NCSBE claims it is ‘impractical’ to remove him from the ballot, it is an issue of NCSBE's own making.”
The complaint noted the elections board’s approach to ballot access for the We The People Party.
“Not only is NCSBE's refusal to recognize Kennedy's statutory rights untethered from any legal justification or precedent, but it is a stark departure from NCSBE's own position in
defending its approval of a minor political party in North Carolina called We The People Party of North Carolina,” Kennedy’s lawyers wrote. “Namely, that if one follows the plain language of the controlling statutes, then there is no further test or inquiry NCSBE or the court may impose. That principle is just as true today as it was when NCSBE made that argument to this court a mere two weeks ago.”
“The facts here mirror that which this court previously found persuasive: the statutory procedures and requirements to remove Kennedy from the ballot were followed, just as
they were when he and We The People were seeking to have his name added to the ballot,” the complaint continued. “The only fact that has changed in the intervening period is NCSBE's position on whether it may superimpose their own subjective test atop the statute's plain language. This Court should reject that invitation. The operative question and the only question is whether or not Kennedy's withdrawal complied with North Carolina law. It did.”
Kennedy argues that elections board members “are ignoring his clearly established rights,” including his free-speech rights under the state constitution. “[B]y forcing Kennedy to remain on the ballot against his will, Defendants are compelling speech in violation of N.C. Const. art. I § 14.”
Republican board member Kevin Lewis introduced a motion on Thursday to drop Kennedy’s name from the ballot and voted in favor of it, along with fellow Republican member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV. Democrat Board Chair Alan Hirsch and Democrat board members Jeff Carmon and Siobhan Millen voted against it.
Members cited that it would be impractical, given that 1.7 million ballots have already been printed, and would cost counties that had already printed ballots to pay more money to have new ones printed. They also said they had to follow statutes stating that absentee ballots, including those going to military members and citizens overseas, must be sent 60 days before the election or Sept. 6 for this year’s election.
NCSBE Associate General Counsel Adam Steele said that candidates usually have until the Sept. 6 deadline to remove themselves from the ballot. Still, since this request is about presidential and vice presidential candidates for electors, it is governed by a different statute, NC General Statute 163-209. He said the real decision for the board was to determine whether it’s practical to reprint the ballots at this point. The statutes and rules that the board is operating under at the meeting are General Statute 163-165.3C, which covers the late changes in ballots, and then Rule 08 NCAC 06b.0104, which effectively says that if there’s a late change in a ballot that comes before the start of the absentee voting period, the determination is about whether it’s practical to reprint the ballots.
Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell noted that 80 out of 93 counties had already begun producing absentee ballots, and 67 counties had or would receive their supply of absentee by-mail ballots by the end of the day of the meeting.
She said it is also estimated that the costs would be in the high six-figure range to reprint the ballots for the vendor that covers those 93 counties.
Bell also noted that any decision by the board that day would impact coding and preparation for the entire election, not just absentee by mail.
Eggers asked Steele if there was an exception with G.S. 163-22k to delay the distribution of absentee ballots if they were not written.
Eggers asked Bell when she first became aware that Kennedy wanted to withdraw from the ballot. She said she knew about his press conference on Aug. 23 but had not heard from his party, We the People. So, she instructed the counties to continue with their proofing processes and work through the weekend to meet the statutory deadline.
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