RALEIGH — The North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an order late Friday enjoining the North Carolina State Board of Elections from distributing ballots that have Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s name on them.
Kennedy is the presidential candidate for the We The People Party, which first fought to keep his name on the ballot but then requested removal from the ballot after Kennedy endorsed former President Donald Trump.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) voted 3-2 to keep Kennedy on the ballot during an emergency meeting on Aug. 29. The reasons cited was cost and impracticality of reprinting new ballots. Some 1.7 million have already been printed and NCSBE Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said the cost for reprints could be in the “high six figure range.”
Attorneys for Kennedy then filed a lawsuit to force the NCSBE to remove his name.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Holt denied the request but gave Kennedy’s lawyers 24 hours to appeal. Phil Strach, an attorney for Kennedy in the case, did file a motion for a temporary stay and a petition for a writ of supersedeas with the North Carolina Court of Appeals which was unanimously granted today.
The Court of Appeals order stays the previous order made by Holt on Sept.5 and the NCSBE is now prohibited from distributing ballots that list Kennedy as a presidential candidate. The stay and injunction will remain in effect until either Kennedy’s appeal is resolved or until the court issues another order.
The case is being sent back to the Superior Court of Wake County, which is instructed to issue an order directing the State Board of Elections to distribute ballots without Kennedy’s name as a presidential candidate.
The final decision on whether Kennedy will appear on the ballot will depend on the outcome of his appeal or any further orders from the court.
According to a Sept. 5 NCSBE press release issued after Holt’s ruling, county boards of election will begin sending ballots out on Sept. 6, which is “the deadline for absentee ballot distribution under state law.”
The NCSBE release also said county boards of elections had received “130,400 absentee ballot requests, including more than 12,300 requests from military and overseas voters.”
North State Journal contacted the NCSBE for comment.
A letter from NCSBE’s Counsel Paul Cox was shared with North State Journal that was sent to county boards of election telling them not to send out any ballots today.
“The Court of Appeals just issued an order reversing the denial of the restraining order that was requested by Kennedy. It is attached. The court has ordered a further pause to ballot distribution. Do not send any ballots out today,” wrote Cox.
“The court has also ordered that the We The People party’s ballot line be removed (including Kennedy and Shanahan). Obviously, this will be a major undertaking for everyone,” Cox wrote. “Our attorneys are reviewing the order and determining how to move forward. No decision has been made on whether this ruling will be appealed.
Cox’s letter concluded by stating, “Bottom line: continue to hold your outgoing absentee ballots—both military and overseas citizen ballots, and ballots for civilian voters. We will update you immediately with any further developments.”
In a press release issued late Friday evening, the NCSBE said the agency had filed an appeal with the North Carolina Supreme Court and asked for an expedited decision.
The release says there are 2,348 different ballot styles statewide for the upcoming November election and there are currently “more than 2.9 million ballots” already printed prior to the Court of Appeals issuing its order.
Brinson Bell has asked county boards to make sure absentee voters get their ballots by no later the federal deadline of Sept. 21. If the ballots can’t go out due to reprinting, the state may need to request a waiver.
