The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted Tuesday to allow one third-party presidential candidate on the November ballot, but denied another. Pending any court challenges, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear on the ballot, but Cornel West will not.
The board previously put approval for Kennedy’s We the People and West’s Justice for All parties on hold to check voter signatures on their petitions to bet on the ballot. Staff have been investigating whether voters fully understood what they were signing, and whether the petitions were gathered transparently and legally.
Board member Siobhan O’Duffy Millen on Tuesday raised another issue. She said both candidates were essentially using front parties and should be instead required to run as independents unaffiliated with any party, which under state law would require gathering nearly six times as many signatures.
"If their purpose is just to quote "get Bobby on the ballot," or get Dr. West on the ballot, that is in actuality an unaffiliated candidacy," she said. Millen pointed out that in other states, Kennedy is running for president under other parties, such as the Libertarian Party, and questioned whether We the People and Justice for All actually meet the definition of a party.
Millen voted against recognizing We the People, but the board’s other four members said Kennedy’s party had met the threshold. Board chair Alan Hirsch said he believed there was "subterfuge" involved in We the People's application, but he said it was a close call and that he believed a court would ultimately have ordered We the People to be recognized as a party if the board denied their application.
But the board voted 3-2 to block West’s party, saying there were still too many serious questions about the authenticity of signatures on their petition for recognition. Staff members said they had tried to contact 250 voters who signed the petition for recognition, but were able to reach only 49. Nearly half of those said they didn't recall signing the petition, were unsure what they had signed, or weren't aware they were signing an application for a new political party.
The vote broke down along party lines, with the two Republicans saying West should be on the ballot and the Democrats voting no.
Board member Kevin Lewis, a Republican, said he was incensed and that West's party should be allowed.
"Justice for All has submitted well over the number of petitions required, and if we don't approve them as a new party in the state of North Carolina based on talking to 49 people, I believe that would be injustice for all," he said.
Republicans in the state have accused the state board of playing politics to give their candidates an advantage, on the assumption that West and Kennedy might pull more voters from Democrats. NC House Speaker Tim Moore echoed that accusation after the vote Tuesday — and hinted that the board could face a reorganization to create "a more balanced" body.
This blatant attempt by Democrats on the NCSBE to bend the rules to insulate their own party’s nominee perfectly illustrates the need for a more balanced Board of Elections. #ncpol #ncsbe pic.twitter.com/mkVp5l0l6w
— Speaker Tim Moore (@NCHouseSpeaker) July 16, 2024
