North Carolina Supreme Court Orders RFK’s Removal From Ballots
The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s name must be removed from the ballots for the upcoming November election, necessitating the reprinting of the ballots. This decision came as Kennedy had previously dropped out of the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump, which complicated the early voting process as ballots were set to be mailed soon. Kennedy aimed to strategically influence the election by participating in battleground states, assessing that his presence could shift votes and potentially aid the Democrats—something he sought to avoid given his stated disagreements with them.
Initially, Democrats sought to keep Kennedy off the ballot, fearing he would siphon votes from Vice President Kamala Harris. However, as the situation evolved and Kennedy’s potential impact on Trump emerged, their strategy shifted. Polls indicated that while Kennedy had positive ratings among Republicans, he negatively affected Trump’s support when included in the race.
The Supreme Court’s close 4-3 decision affirmed a previous ruling that emphasizes the importance of accurate candidate representation on ballots to ensure voters make informed decisions. The court acknowledged that rewriting ballots would require additional resources but deemed it necessary to uphold the integrity of the voting process and the fundamental right for voters to express their preferences.
The Supreme Court of North Carolina ruled Monday that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s name be stricken from ballots for November’s election, forcing them to be reprinted.
North Carolinians who requested them were supposed to start being mailed their ballots on Friday, marking one of the longest voting seasons in the country, but litigation over RFK, Jr.’s name remaining on the ballot after he dropped out and endorsed former President Donald Trump delayed the process.
After dropping out, Kennedy has been trying to help Trump in critical swing states. Depending on the political calculus of the state, he has been trying to remove his name from some ballots and remain on others.
“Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues,” Kennedy said of his strategy.
In North Carolina, Kennedy’s status as a lifelong Democrat from a powerful political dynasty initially prompted Democrats to sue to keep him off the ballot for fear he would sap votes from Vice President Kamala Harris, but now they have been trying to keep him on as it became clear his presence would likely take votes from Trump.
With Kennedy removed, the Trump campaign could benefit by being the next-best option for Kennedy supporters, as polling from just prior to Kennedy dropping out and Biden being removed from the Democrat ticket showed that Kennedy has net positive ratings from Republicans but net negatives from independents and Democrats. The same poll showed that Trump led the pack in a head-to-head with Biden and with third-party candidates included, but that when Kennedy was added to the mix, 10 percent of Trump supporters went to Kennedy.
The 4-3 high court decision upholds a lower court ruling from Friday, which the Democrat-run State Board of Elections appealed later that day.
“The elections process should ensure that voters are presented with accurate information regarding the candidates running for an elected office,” Justice Trey Allen wrote in the majority opinion, quoting case law that states, “In a republic where the people are sovereign, the ability of the citizenry to make informed choices among candidates for office is essential, for the identities of those who are elected will inevitably shape the course that we follow as a nation.”
“Where a ballot contains misleading information or inaccurately lists the candidates,
it risks interfering with the right to vote according to one’s conscience,” he continued. “We acknowledge that expediting the process of printing new ballots will require considerable time and effort by our election officials and significant expense to the State. But that is a price the North Carolina Constitution expects us to incur to protect voters’ fundamental right to vote their conscience and have that vote count.”
Election officials in North Carolina said that reprinting and readying the updated ballots for mail could take over two weeks out of their 60-day voting term. Over 136,000 voters have already requested ballots.
In addition to Americans voting before election litigation is decided across the country, The Federalist reported how such an enormous amount of time to vote can actually disenfranchise voters by not allowing them to consider the same information as other Americans who waited longer to vote.
Election officials are now against a deadline imposed by state law requiring that absentee ballots for military and overseas voters be shipped by Sept. 21.
While the decision in North Carolina was a win for Kennedy and could help Trump in the state, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the other direction on Monday, overturning a lower court ruling.
There, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, has been fighting to keep Kennedy on the ballot in hopes it will help the Kamala Harris campaign, while also trying to keep independent candidate Cornel West off the ballot.
For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
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