RFK Jr. takes legal action in critical 2024 election swing state
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suing at least three states that won’t remove his name
- This comes after he suspended his campaign in 10 states to boost Trump’s chances
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now filing a lawsuit to have his name removed from the ballot for the 2024 presidential election in North Carolina.
The Democrat-turned-independent suspended his campaign in 10 competing states in late August and endorsed Donald Trump.
But RFK Jr. faces a hurdle in North Carolina, because the state has already printed ballots and will begin mailing them out this week for mail-in or early voting.
βIt would not be practical to reprint ballots that have already been printed to meet the state law deadline for beginning mail-in voting,β the North Carolina State Board of Elections said in an Aug. 29 statement.
The request to remove RFK Jr.’s name came after 1.7 million paper ballots had already been printed. The state said it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce new ones, and the board will begin sending out ballots by mail on Friday.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now suing North Carolina to have his name removed from the ballot after the state’s election board denied his request to have it removed after 1.7 million ballots had already been printed.
The board members voted three to two, along Democratic-Republican party lines, to deny Kennedy’s request.
But the former candidate’s new legal action aims to force the reprint and removal of Kennedy’s name so he doesn’t harm Trump’s chances in the key swing state.
Vice President Kamala Harris has a narrow lead in the polls in North Carolina. The state voted Republican in 2016 and 2020, but is seen as a battleground because it has tilted toward the center with each election and, like many swing states, has a Democratic governor.
If RFK Jr. ultimately fails to remove his name from the ballot in North Carolina, it could undermine his decision to suspend his candidacy in favor of the Republican candidate.
On August 23 β the day after the Democratic National Convention ended β Kennedy suspended his campaign in ten of the most competitive states, including the seven swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
RFK Jr. attended Trump’s rally in Arizona that day and supported his candidacy.
He was also named co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with the former president’s two sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance.
RFK Jr. suspended his campaign in the 10 most competitive states last month in an effort not to harm Donald Trump’s chances in the battleground
“Our polls consistently showed that I would probably hand the election to the Democrats if I stayed on the ballot in the critical states. I disagree with them on the most existential issues,” Kennedy told reporters when he announced his withdrawal last month in Phoenix, Arizona.
The dispute in North Carolina is not the only state where Kennedy has faced challenges removing his name from ballots so close to Election Day in November.
Wisconsin and Michigan also deny him permission.
“Any person who files nomination papers and is eligible to appear on the ballot may not refuse the nomination. The name of that person must appear on the ballot, except in the case of the person’s death,” according to Wisconsin election law, cited by the board that denied his request to be removed from the ballot.
However, Kennedy did successfully remove himself from the ballot box in other crucial states: Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona.