RALEIGH, N.C. – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored a pair of legal victories Friday in the battleground states of North Carolina and Michigan, and a setback in Wisconsin, in his quest to get his name off of the ballots in some states after he suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
North Carolina’s intermediate-level Court of Appeals issued an order granting Kennedy’s request to halt the mailing of ballots that included his name, upending plans in the state just as officials were about to begin sending out the nation’s first absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 presidential election.
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The court — a three-judge panel ruling unanimously — also told a trial judge to order the State Board of Elections to distribute ballots without Kennedy’s name on them. No legal explanation was given.
In Michigan, its intermediate-level Court of Appeals ruled that Kennedy should be removed from the ballot, reversing a decision made earlier this week by a lower court judge.
And in Wisconsin, a Dane County circuit court judge denied Kennedy's request for a temporary restraining order to put on hold the state elections commission's decision to keep him on the ballot.
“A matter of such consequence deserves a full development of the record with appropriate briefing by all sides,” Judge Stephen Ehlke wrote. He set a scheduling conference for Wednesday, a week before the deadline for the printing of ballots.
In separate statements, a Kennedy attorney praised the North Carolina and Michigan rulings, saying they uphold state elections laws and support ballot integrity by ensuring no one must vote for a candidate no longer running in their state.
A favorable outcome for Kennedy could assist Trump’s efforts to win North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin.
North Carolina law required the first absentee ballots to be mailed or transmitted to those already asking for them no later than 60 days before the general election, making Friday the deadline. The process of reprinting and assembling ballot packages likely would take more than two weeks, state attorneys have said.
The State Board of Elections formally asked the state Supreme Court late Friday to reverse the Court of Appeals decision. State lawyers asked the justices to act quickly before adjustments to the ballots ordered earlier Friday is complete — likely in a few days. Five of the seven Supreme Court justices are registered Republicans.
Kennedy, the nominee of the We The People party in North Carolina, had sued last week to get off the state's ballots after he suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump. But the Democratic majority on the State Board of Elections rejected the request, saying it was too late in the process of printing ballots and coding tabulation machines. Kennedy then sued.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Holt on Thursday denied Kennedy's effort to keep his name off ballots, prompting his appeal. In the meantime, Holt had told election officials to hold back sending absentee ballots until noon Friday.
More than 136,300 people — military and overseas workers and in-state civilian residents — have requested North Carolina absentee ballots so far, the State Board of Elections said late Friday.
In an email, state board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell told election directors in all 100 counties to preserve current ballots and coding in case rulings revert to keeping Kennedy on the ballot. More than 2.9 million absentee and in-person ballots with Kennedy's name on them had been printed. Counties would have to pay for the cost of reprinting ballots.
With Friday's deadline not met, North Carolina election officials still are faced with meeting a federal law requiring absentee ballots go to military and overseas voters by Sept. 21. They may try to seek a waiver if new ballots can't be produced in time.
Friday’s ruling in North Carolina didn’t include the names of Court of Appeals judges who considered Kennedy’s request — the court releases the names after 90 days. The court has 15 judges — 11 registered Republicans and four Democrats. Names usually have been withheld from such orders to discourage “judge shopping,” or purposefully seeking out a judge who’s likely to rule in your favor, the court has said.
Kennedy sued Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Aug. 30 to get off the ballot. He filed suit in Wisconsin on Wednesday.
Friday's ruling from Michigan said that while Kennedy’s request was made close to the deadline to give notice to local election officials, it wasn’t so unreasonable as to deny relief to him. Benson's office will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, a spokesperson said.
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Associated Press writers Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.