Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina Election Commission, trying to remove his name from the ballot at the last minute before the 2024 presidential election. This is reported by AR, UNN.
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The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, claims that the commission's refusal to remove his name as a third-party candidate violates the state's election law and his right to free speech, The News& Observer and WRAL report.
“With the November election approaching and the deadline for printing ballots, Kennedy has no choice but to seek immediate intervention from this court,” the lawsuit says.
After Kennedy dropped out of the race in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump, he sought to withdraw his name in states where the race could be tight, such as North Carolina. At the same time, Kennedy is trying to stay on the ballot in states such as New York, where his presence is unlikely to affect the fight between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Unless the court intervenes, Kennedy's name will remain on the North Carolina ballot in November.
On Thursday, three Democrats from the North Carolina Electoral Commission voted against two Republicans and rejected a request to remove Kennedy and his running mate Nicole Shanahan from the We the People party's ballot.
The Democratic majority said it was too late at this point, as 67 of the state's 100 counties have begun printing ballots, the first of which are due by September 6. The main printing service provider for most counties has already printed more than 1.7 million ballots, and it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to reprint, said Karen Brinson Bell, the commission's executive director.
“When we talk about printing ballots, we don't mean... pressing the copy button on a photocopier. It's a much more complex and multi-layered process,” Brinson Bell told the commissioners.
The two Republicans disagreed and said the commission could have postponed the legal deadline for mail-in ballots.