North Carolina court sides with Kennedy

(The Center Square) – Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s win at the appellate level has been supported by the state Supreme Court 4-3 and he will not appear on North Carolina ballots.

That makes five out of seven battleground states where voters will no longer see his name at the election booth.

More than 2.9 million ballots had already been printed, with better than 136,000 requests for absentee ballots that had been scheduled to go into the mail this past Friday. Kennedy’s name is now off five of seven consensus battleground states, with another decision expected Tuesday.

Justices in favor of him staying off the ballot were Chief Justice Paul Newby, Phil Berger Jr., Tamara Barringer and Trey Allen; in dissent were Anita Earls, Richard Dietz and Allison Riggs. The decision affirms last week's ruling by the North Carolina Court of Appeals .

Counties pay for the costs. The State Board of Elections has responsibility to recode the 2,348 different ballot styles statewide for the 2024 general election.

Karen Brinson Bell, executive director for the board, has previously instructed the 100 county boards of election to await mailing any absentee ballots until a date can be set for all. She said it is hoped to meet a Sept. 21 federal deadline.

Kennedy, nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, was to be on the ballot as representative of the We The People Party. The Democratic Party, on July 26, filed a lawsuit to reverse the state board’s decision to allow him onto the ballot.

On Aug. 23, Kennedy suspended his campaign and began to request his name be taken off ballots in the battleground states. He subsequently endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

North Carolina is among the seven battleground states representing 93 electoral college votes. Pennsylvania has 19, North Carolina and Georgia 16 each, Michigan 15, Arizona 11, Wisconsin 10 and Nevada six.

In Michigan on Monday, the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling and his name will appear on ballots. A ruling is expected on Tuesday in Wisconsin. In other battleground states, he is not on the ballot in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia or Pennsylvania.

According to published reports, he will also not appear on the ballot in Ohio, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, New Hampshire or Maine. He is on the ballot in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Delaware and Vermont.