NC Court of Appeals halts mailing of absentee ballots due to RFK Jr. ballot lawsuit

The North Carolina Court of Appeals on Friday blocked the state from sending out absentee ballots, siding with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his effort to be removed from the state’s presidential ballot.

In an order released Friday, the court granted Kennedy’s petition to stay a decision from a lower court on Thursday, which had denied his request to be removed from the ballot.

“This cause is remanded to the Superior Court of Wake County for entry of order directing the State Board of Elections to disseminate ballots without the name of petitioner Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appearing as a candidate for President of the United States,” the order, which did not specify which judges were on the panel, said.

The court’s decision will force the state to miss its Sept. 6 deadline for sending out absentee ballots. The state board has directed county boards of elections not to send out any ballots and hold them until further notice.

Friday evening, the state board informed local election officials that it is appealing the ruling to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Over 130,000 voters have requested absentee ballots so far, which were supposed to be sent out Friday morning.

The names of Court of Appeals judges ruling on petitions are confidential for 90 days, according to the clerk of court, so they won’t become public before the election.

Unprecedented decision

Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University, said the court’s decision was unprecedented.

“We’ve delayed elections, we’ve moved back elections, absolutely we’ve done that,” he said. “But we’ve not done that because of a candidate trying to get off the ballot — who fought to get on the ballot.“

If the board does reprint ballots without Kennedy’s name, it is unclear how much longer voters will have to wait. Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections, estimated last month that it could take around two weeks to reprint ballots.

While the board awaits action from the Supreme Court, it is directing local election officials to hold onto the existing ballots, but begin coding new ballots without Kennedy’s name or his party, “We The People.”

“Preserve any coding, ballots, or other materials that include We The People in the presidential contest,” Brinson Bell said in an email to election workers. “If the State Supreme Court reverses the order, then we will revert back to the coding, ballots, and materials that have been prepared through today.”

The federal deadline for sending absentee ballots is Sept. 21.

A Wake County Superior Court judge initially denied Kennedy’s request to be removed from the ballot on Thursday, but granted a 24-hour stay of her decision to allow him to appeal.

Less than one month ago, Kennedy was in court defending his right to be on the state’s ballot. But after suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump, he launched a hasty effort to withdraw his candidacy in North Carolina while remaining on the ballot in less competitive states.

His request was initially denied by the State Board of Elections’ Democratic majority, which said it would be impractical to remove him with so little notice and would cause the state to miss its deadline for sending absentee ballots. Kennedy sued shortly after.

Brinson Bell said the cost of reprinting ballots could be in the “high six-figure range.”