RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 3-2 down party lines at an emergency meeting on Thursday to keep presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the November ballot.
The three Democrats, Board Chair Alan Hirsch and members Jeff Carmon and Siobhan Millen, all voted against removal. The two Republicans, Stacy “Four” Eggers and Jeff Lewis, voted in favor.
Ryan Rabah, the attorney for Kennedy’s We The People Party (WTP), issued the removal memo dated Aug. 28 to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE).
The request came after Kennedy suspended his campaign to endorse former President Donald Trump. Kennedy had said he would remove his name from the ballot in battleground states, which includes North Carolina. Prior to the NCSBE receiving the removal request, NCSBE Communications Director Patrick Gannon told North State Journal that the board would “have to consider whether it is practical to remove his name from ballots and reprint ballots at that time.”
NCSBE Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell reminded the board the state deadline to have absentee by mail ballots prepared is Sept. 6, adding, “This makes us first in the nation.”
Brinson Bell said the process of preparing ballots is complex, involving not just printing but also election coding for voting equipment. She said the primary vendor is working with 93 counties and that around 80 of those counties have “begun production of their absentee early voting and absentee day ballots.”
During the discussion, it was said that some 1.7 million ballots had already been printed. An NCSBE press release issued after the meeting issued more firm figures.
“As of Thursday morning, the State Board was aware that at least 1,730,000 ballots had already been printed,’ according to the press release. “About 95 of the 100 counties have ballots approved for printing, and at least some ballots have been printed for more than 80 counties. Of these, nearly 70 counties will have their absentee ballots by the end of the day today, so they can prepare them for sending to voters who requested them on September 6.”
The release also noted there is “no deadline in state law for when a party may withdraw its presidential nominee and have their name replaced or removed from the ballot.”
The executive director also said changes to the ballots at this point would be time-consuming and expensive, in a “high six figure range,” and reprinting and distribution could be 12 to 13 days. There was discussion that reprinting and proofing could run up against a federal deadline of Sept. 21 for ballot transmission to voters.
Discussion over the issue went back and forth between members and staff over statutory language to make the change.
WTP was certified by the NCSBE in late June and the North Carolina Democratic Party then unsuccessfully sued to have WTP’s certification removed and thereby removing Kennedy from the ballot.
Prior to the vote, Millen expressed frustration over the withdrawal request, claiming that existing statutes don’t directly address the current scenario, but emphasized that maintaining the timeline for mailing absentee ballots is crucial.
“I’m just going to be real blunt and say I think this whole episode has been a farce and I feel bad for anyone who’s been deceived,” Millen said.
Millen also clarified that other candidates nominated by WTP can still run even if the top candidate withdraws but also warned that if the party fails to receive 2% in the statewide race, it will lose recognition and need to petition for reinstatement.
Before adjourning, the board also passed a motion that stated the reason the withdrawal was rejected was because it was “impractical.” That vote also passed 3-2 but the votes were flipped this time with all three Democrats voting yes and the two Republicans voting no.
