Top North Carolina court rules ballots must be reprinted without RFK Jr.’s name

North Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled Monday that the State Board of Elections must reprint presidential ballots to remove former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ticket.

The decision marks a significant win for Kennedy, who suspended his campaign in critical swing states more than two weeks ago and subsequently endorsed former President Trump. The independent candidate has since launched an effort to remove his name from ballots in the battleground states where the race is expected to be close in November — a move aimed at boosting Trump’s support.

In the 4-3 decision Monday, the state’s top court said it was clear that Kennedy ended his campaign and that a vote for him would not count. The order stressed the importance of protecting the right to vote over other concerns.

“To protect this important right, the elections process should ensure that voters are presented with accurate information regarding the candidates running for an elected office,” the order reads. “Where a ballot contains misleading information or inaccurately lists the candidates, it risks interfering with the right to vote according to one’s conscience.”

The majority specifically noted that keeping Kennedy’s name on the ballot “could disenfranchise countless voters who mistakenly believe that plaintiff remains a candidate for office.”

The Monday ruling upholds an appeals court decision last week to remove him from the ballot, which Trump praised.

That decision reversed a trial court’s order to keep the independent on the roster, which Kennedy filed a lawsuit against.

The state elections board’s Democratic majority had rejected the request from the “We the People” party, which had certified Kennedy as its candidate, to remove him from the ballot. The state argued it would be too difficult to practically reprint all of the ballots in time to meet deadlines to distribute absentee ballots.

But the Tar Heel State’s top court majority argued that the state board had been notified about Kennedy’s intention to withdraw from the ballot but waited nearly a week before voting on whether to remove his name and proceeded to print ballots with his name in the meantime. The state board’s arguments, the Supreme Court ruled, therefore “ring hollow.”

“We decline to grant defendants extraordinary relief when they are responsible for their own predicament,” the order reads.

“We acknowledge that expediting the process of printing new ballots will require considerable time and effort by our election officials and significant expense to the State,” the court added. “But that is a price the North Carolina Constitution expects us to incur to protect voters’ fundamental right to vote their conscience and have that vote count.”

The state board previously requested the state Supreme Court make an expedited decision, “so counties will not have to spend additional money preparing and printing new ballots if the State Board is successful in its appeal. In North Carolina, county boards of elections are responsible for ballot-related costs.”

The Hill has reached out to the North Carolina State Board of Elections for comment.

Kennedy’s attorney, Aaron Siri, celebrated the North Carolina decision in an emailed statement.

“Mr. Kennedy suspended his campaign weeks ago,” he wrote. “The decision today by the North Carolina Supreme Court to remove Mr. Kennedy’s name from the ballot will assure that nobody in North Carolina votes for a candidate who is no longer running in their state.”

The Monday ruling came soon after Michigan’s top court decided against Kennedy on his similar request in that battleground state.