Judge Rebecca Holt will consider Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s, demand for a temporary restraining order. Thursday's hearing, in Wake County Superior Court, comes as elections officials across the state prepare to start sending out requested absentee ballots on Friday.
Kennedy was the presidential nominee of the We the People party. The group recently won recognition in North Carolina by petition, enabling Kennedy to circumvent a higher hurdle for independent candidates seeking ballot access.
But on Aug. 23, Kennedy suspended his campaign and immediately threw his support behind former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Kennedy's endorsement came amid speculation he might be lining himself up for a possible role in a future Trump administration.
Four days later, Kennedy submitted a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections formally asking to be removed from ballots in the state. Kennedy has been seeking removal from ballots in other battleground states, too, hoping to boost Trump's chances in those key areas. He has succeeded in some, including Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania; and failed in others, such as Wisconsin and Michigan.
But on Aug. 29, the Democratic-majority state elections board ruled in a split vote — the three Democrats outvoting the board's two Republican members — that removing Kennedy's name at this juncture was impractical and denied his request.
"Already 67 counties have received their supply of absentee-by-mail ballots," state elections board executive director Karen Brinson Bell told the board members at the emergency meeting convened to consider Kennedy's removal request.
In his lawsuit, and his motion seeking a TRO, Kennedy argued that Brinson Bell and elections board staff were made well aware of his desire for removal by the suspension of his campaign. Furthermore, Kennedy's formal request for removal came before the statutory start of sending out absentee ballots on Sept. 6.
Under state law, requested absentee ballots shall be sent out starting 60 days prior to Election Day, which, this year, is Friday, Sept. 6.
Another state law allows nominees to withdraw as candidates as long as the request is made "prior to the first day on which military and overseas absentee ballots are transmitted to voters," also 60 days before Election Day.
As for late changes to ballots, North Carolina administrative code authorizes the state elections board to determine "whether it is practical to have the ballots reprinted."
"We followed the law and we sent all these counties going on printing up their ballots with Mr. Kennedy's (name) on it," said Siobhan Millen, one of the board's three Democrats, at the board's Aug. 29 meeting.
"It's impractical, it was confusing, and it would incur needless expense to reprint ballots to remove We the People's nominated candidate," Millen added.
But in his legal filing, Kennedy's attorneys argued the elections board was applying a "subjective 'practicality' standard" and is violating RFK Jr.'s free speech rights by compelling him to remain on the ballot.
