Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections to remove his name from the state’s ballot after withdrawing his name from a key state ballot.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Wake County Superior Court, came after the board denied his request to remove it from the general election ballot, saying it would be impractical to reprint the ballots and would make it difficult to meet the state’s absentee ballot deadline.
In Kennedy’s lawsuit, the board refused to recognize his legal rights and entitlements, causing him “irreparable harm,” the News & Observer reported.
The lawsuit comes after Kennedy suspended his campaign in swing states and endorsed former President Trump. He said he would remain on the ballot in most red and blue states but would withdraw in key states that could turn out for Trump.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections said it was holding an emergency meeting to consider Kennedy’s request to be removed from the We The People Party race.
The board’s three Democrats overturned the two Republicans’ decision, deciding it was “too late in the process” to prepare the state for the November election and change course.
Two key battleground states, Michigan and Wisconsin, also rejected calls for Kennedy to be removed from office.
Kennedy’s lawsuit claims he followed the law and met the deadline to be removed from the ballot. He said he knew the board wanted him removed but told the county to print the ballot anyway, WRAL News reported.
As things stand, the votes given to Kennedy in the November 5 election will be counted.
The council contacted the election commission.
