Elise Appel (Center Square)
A judge announced Thursday that he had denied North Carolina’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to have his name removed from the electoral rolls.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Waters Holt gave Kennedy 24 hours to deliver the ballots, giving his lawyers time to appeal to the state Court of Appeals.
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In response to the decision, the North Carolina State Board of Elections ordered counties to suspend ballot distribution, which was scheduled to begin on Friday.
“Please be prepared not to mail out your ballots tomorrow morning unless you hear otherwise from the state board,” Paul Cox, general counsel for the state board of elections, said in a statement to counties.
Cox told counties to “stay tuned” for more information.
“The key is to have a plan in place to not send out ballots tomorrow morning, and be prepared in case circumstances change and you need to send out ballots later tomorrow,” he said.
This all happens after the board By a narrow margin On August 29th, a demonstration was held against a request to remove Kennedy from the ballot.
Board Members Claimed He said removing him from the ballot would be “unrealistic,” especially considering “nearly 2 million votes statewide.” [that] It already has Kennedy’s name printed on it.”
Following that decision, Kennedy filed a lawsuit against the board. The Fifth Case It filed suit against the commission within 40 days, capping a summer of wrangling.
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Kennedy argued in his lawsuit that the failure to remove him from office interfered with his free speech. He announced his resignation on Aug. 23, but the committee didn’t vote until Aug. 29. His lawsuit was filed the next day.
Judge Holt, joining the committee majority, found that it would require “significant expense and effort” for North Carolina to remove Kennedy from the ballot.
Kennedy was initially denied access to the ballot by the committee, but was granted access to the ballot on July 16 as a member of the People’s Party.
Kennedy decided to remove his name from the ballot following his decision to suspend his presidential campaign on August 23, less than 24 hours after the Democratic National Convention ended. At a press conference, he blamed “shadow operatives at the Democratic National Committee” for obstructing the campaign at every step to prevent it from accessing the ballot, and announced his support for former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy’s name has since been removed from the ballot. 4 out of 7 While the race remains on in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan, he won unanimous victories in the battleground states.
Both the commission and the court are expected to release more details and information about the decision and its impact Thursday afternoon.
Distributed with permission From Centre Square.
