Democrats sue to get Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the 2024 presidential ballot in NC
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The North Carolina Democratic Party sued the State Board of Elections on Thursday over its decision to grant ballot access to third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The lawsuit, filed in Wake County court, asks a judge to reverse the board’s decision and prohibit Kennedy from appearing on the ballot.
Democrats allege that Kennedy skirted the state’s rules for getting on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate by creating a new political party, called We The People, for the sole purpose of running his presidential campaign.
“Allowing unaffiliated candidates to masquerade as political parties, as Kennedy and the WTP Party seek to do here, in violation of North Carolina law harms the electoral prospects of the NCDP and its candidates,” the lawsuit states.
North Carolina law requires more than 80,000 signatures to get unaffiliated candidates on the ballot — but fewer than 14,000 to certify new parties.
A representative for We The People did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon.
The State Board of Elections’ Democratic majority initially denied certification to We The People over similar concerns to those raised in the lawsuit.
However, the board reversed its decision earlier this month, with Chair Alan Hirsch, a Democrat, saying he would “reluctantly” vote in their favor because “I think that it is such a close call, that ultimately a court would have to decide it.”
The board voted against certifying another third party led by left-wing presidential candidate Cornel West. Supporters of that party sued the board earlier this week.
The state board generally prints ballots in August and absentee ballots go out on Sept. 6, meaning the court does not have much time to act if it aims to enact a change that will affect this election.
The NCDP filed an emergency motion asking the court to grant them relief by Aug. 16.
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