The North Carolina Supreme Court decidelessentially eliminates RFK Jr.'s name from the state's ballots.
In a 4-3 vote, with two Democrats and a Republican in disagreement, the Republican-led court stated that ensuring electoral accuracy is more crucial than the financial burdens and delays that ensue from having to reprint the state's ballots.
Absentee voting ballots in North Carolina were set to be distributed on Friday but were held up due to the legal dispute surrounding Kennedy's removal following his abandonment of his independent presidential campaign. The state's election board revealed that this could result in a nearly two-week delay in the commencement of absentee voting while new ballots are produced.
"We understand that the expedited process of creating new ballots will necessitate a substantial investment of time and resources from our election officials and significant financial outlay from the State," the majority opined. "However, this expense is a necessary sacrifice to preserve voters' fundamental right to cast their votes in accordance with their convictions and have their votes counted, as per the North Carolina Constitution."
In a message to the county election boards on Monday evening, the state board's executive director, Karen Brinson Bell, stated that the process of designing ballots devoid of Kennedy's name would continue, and that existing ballots with his name should be meticulously segregated and stored to prevent inadvertent use in this election.
Brinson Bell urged the counties not to distribute ballots until a specific date could be established. "We will continue to collaborate with counties and ballot vendors to ascertain a potential commencement date for distributing absentee ballots statewide," Brinson Bell wrote.
Under federal law, ballots for overseas and military voters must be sent out by September 21, but Brinson Bell mentioned that the state board had initiated discussions with the U.S. Department of Defense to request an extension of that deadline.
Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump. However, the Democratic-controlled election board voted along party lines to deny Kennedy's request to remove his name from the ballot, arguing that it would be impractical to reprint ballots and consequently delay the initiation of voting.
Kennedy contested the decision, and a lower court judge supported the election board on Thursday, granting Kennedy 24 hours to appeal. However, on Friday morning, an appeals court reversed this decision, ordering officials to delete Kennedy's name from the ballot, prompting the election board to request the state Supreme Court's intervention.
In its ruling, the court criticized the election board, asserting, "any damage incurred by the board due to the order to reprint the ballots is self-inflicted."
The court admonished the board for continuing to manufacture ballots even after Kennedy announced his suspension of his candidacy on August 23.
Brinson Bell clarified the court's remarks in her note to the counties, writing, "by the time Kennedy's campaign managed to communicate with the State Board regarding the withdrawal process on the evening of August 26, more than half of the counties had already initiated the process of printing ballots, which would have been impossible to rectify and meet the 60-day deadline for ballots to become accessible."
The counties will be responsible for the costs associated with reprinting the ballots, which Brinson Bell acknowledged in her note. "We acknowledge the predicament this poses for you and your respective counties, and we deeply regret this difficulty."
The election board's decision to deny Kennedy's request to remove his name from the ballots led to a legal dispute, escalating the political tensions in North Carolina. Despite the financial burdens and delays resulting from having to reprint the state's ballots, the court emphasized that ensuring electoral accuracy is of paramount importance in politics.
