NC Supreme Court sides with RFK Jr., orders ballots reprinted without his name

CHARLOTTE — In a 4-3 ruling, North Carolina’s highest court says Robert F Kennedy’s name should not be on the state’s presidential ballots.

The North Carolina Supreme Court sided with the three judges on the Court of Appeals who ordered ballots to be reprinted without RFK Jr.’s name. RFK Jr. sued to have his name removed from the state’s presidential ballot after endorsing former President Donald Trump. The North Carolina State Board of Elections resisted RFK Jr.’s initial attempts for removal, citing the large number of ballots that were already printed.

NCSBE hasn’t commented on the ruling but election staff across the state worked through the weekend to prepare for the possibility of sending out ballots without the name.

“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. 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 ruling stated.

Justices Anita Earls, Richard Dietz, and Allison Riggs dissented.

Mecklenburg County election workers are waiting word on what to do after working through the weekend. Thousands of absentee ballots are being stored in a vault.

“We’re holding. We’ve got them stored in the vault and they are locked up,” said Michael Dickerson, election director. “If they say send those out, we proceed.”

Election boards, including the one in Mecklenburg County, are waiting to hear what to do: Send out the old ballots or print new ones without RFK Jr.’s name.

“We are just prepping as much as we can so that when the time comes. We’re ready to roll,” he said.

Mecklenburg County is ready and can print its ballots on demand. The printers, blank ballot paper, and envelopes are all in the basement. Mecklenburg County’s reprint will cost $20,000. That’s not a whole lot for the county considering its $2.5 billion budget. But this is a heavier task for smaller counties.

Alexander and Gaston counties use a third-party vendor for printing. Alexander County’s projected total is around $11,000. Gaston County pays 24 cents a ballot and is looking at an added expense of $31,000.

Stanly County is like Mecklenburg County and prints its ballots but the cost is still expected to be more than $27,000.

Dickerson says potential mail and overseas voters shouldn’t stress out about the uncertainty.

“Don’t worry,” he said.

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