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.
However, the North Carolina State Board of Elections has filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court, meaning the saga continues for elections managers across the Tar Heel State.
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.
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.
The NCSBE said in a statement Friday it would still work through the weekend to code new ballots without Kennedy's name as the court considers the appeal. Proofs will also be provided to county elections boards for review. The state board notes there are more than 2,300 different ballot styles statewide and that more than 2.9 million ballots had been printed before the Court of Appeals' order.
The board notes that state elections director Karen Brinson Bell has told county officials not to send ballots yet and wait until a date is determined for that to happen.
The state board said that, as of Friday afternoon, more than 136,000 voters had requested absentee ballots across North Carolina, including nearly 13,000 military and overseas voters.
The NCSBE notes voters who have already requested a ballot do not need to request a new one. If a voter needs their ballot to be delivered to a different address since they will receive their ballot later than expected, then a voter should complete a new request form with the updated address information. County boards of elections will process the new request once received and cancel the previous request and ballot.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Voters who wish to vote by mail should do so as soon as possible to ensure it's received in time to be marked and sent back in a timely manner. Mail-in ballots must be received by county election boards no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
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.
Michael Dickerson, director of the the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, said the county was prepared due to this deadline and law.
"The day before yesterday we had already gotten through half," Dickerson said. "We were preparing to continue. Now, we are just waiting for the state to tell us what to do."
The process of reprinting and assembling ballot packages likely would take more than two weeks, state attorneys have said. The ruling could be appealed.
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 132,500 people — military and overseas workers and in-state civilian residents — have requested North Carolina absentee ballots so far, the State Board of Elections said.
In an email, state board attorney Paul Cox told election directors in all 100 counties after Friday's ruling to hold on to the current ballots but not send them.
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 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.
Associated Press writers Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
