North Carolina Blocks Initial Ballot Access Bids By RFK Jr., Cornel West

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Nixon library in Yorba Linda, Calif., on June 12, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Three Democrats on the five-member North Carolina Elections Board voted to deny the We the People Party’s bid to nominate Mr. Kennedy as its presidential candidate and to certify him on the state’s general election ballot.

The decision isn’t final as the elections board will meet again on July 9 to revisit requests.

In its virtual meeting on June 26, the panel also decided to postpone the approval of Justice for All Party candidate Cornel West and the Constitution Party nominee Randall Terry.

North Carolina election officials have confirmed that the We the People Party surpassed the minimum of 13,865 valid signatures required to register as a political party for the 2024 general election.

Democrats on the elections board cited concerns about how the party represented itself while circulating petitions and gathering signatures.

The two Republicans on the panel voted in favor of the political parties.

Board chair Alan Hirsch told We the People Party officials that the decision is not intended “to deny your status as a party. It’s just to do our job and to be sure that the people that signed the petition know the purpose and intent.”

Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley chastised the board’s vote, saying it “willfully ignored North Carolina law, and betrayed the public trust of North Carolinians.”

Mr. Whatley said in the June 26 statement that his organization is “leaving all options on the table to remedy this issue.”

Challenges in Multiple States

Mr. Kennedy is being confronted with attempts to keep him off the ballot in multiple states.

On June 25, attorney Scott Salmon filed a legal complaint accusing Mr. Kennedy of violating New Jersey’s Sore Loser Law, which prohibits candidates from running as an independent in the general election after unsuccessfully pursuing a major party’s nomination.

In the filing, Mr. Salmon wrote, “Defendant Kennedy sought the nomination of the Democratic Party for President of the United States. He was unsuccessful. Now, he seeks to run as an independent candidate.”

Mr. Salmon said Mr. Kennedy should be barred from the New Jersey ballot, and should only be able “to wage a write-in campaign” for the election. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. poses for a selfie with supporters after a voter rally in Holbrook, N.Y., on April 28, 2024,. Richard Moore/The Epoch Times

On X, Mr. Salmon wrote that he is not getting paid to spearhead the legal challenge, but is paying “out of pocket” to present the complaint “because I believe it’s the right thing to do.”

Over the last month, the DNC and Clear Choice, a super PAC aligned with President Biden to counter third-party presidential candidates, have objected to Mr. Kennedy’s appearance on the ballot, with legal filings in four states including the battlegrounds of Nevada and North Carolina.

“We knew that we would face legal challenge after legal challenge, so we are prepared,” Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times. “These objections are frivolous and an attempt to keep Americans from having another choice.”

Running as Independent

Mr. Kennedy initially ran for the Democrat nomination last year. After encountering multiple roadblocks from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and claiming that the organization was “rigging the primary” to favor President Biden and prevent other candidates from competing, he chose to run as an independent in October 2023.

The Kennedy–Shanahan ticket is currently on the ballot in eight states: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.

The campaign said it has submitted its signatures in 11 states—Alaska, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Illinois.

According to the campaign, it has gathered enough signatures for ballot access in six other states—Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Nevada.

Overall, the Kennedy–Shanahan ticket has collected the required signatures for ballot access in 25 states totaling 348 electoral votes, the campaign reported.

Democrats claim that Mr. Kennedy is a “stalking horse” for former President Donald Trump and is financed by MAGA donors to prevent President Biden from winning a second term. Republicans have painted him as a “radical, far-left liberal” who is only in the race to keep President Trump from returning to the White House.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and pro-Biden groups have directed significant resources to derail Mr. Kennedy’s bid to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Earlier this year, the DNC announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates.

The DNC has also filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission against American Values 2024, claiming the pro-Kennedy super PAC violated federal campaign finance law.

The Kennedy campaign says the FEC complaints illustrate the DNC’s attempts to throttle Mr. Kennedy’s campaign.

“The Democratic Party is supposed to be about exemplifying democracy and being a template for democracy around the world,” he said.

Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times last year that his campaign is prepared to combat expected organized efforts by both parties to keep him off the ballot and the debate stage.

Party Affiliations

In January, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign submitted paperwork to create the We The People Party.

Mr. Kennedy’s campaign reported that filing for political party status in certain states reduced the number of signatures required for him to gain ballot access by about 330,000.

Rulings and legal actions in several states, including North Carolina, claim that Mr. Kennedy is an independent presidential candidate and question the legitimacy of the We the People Party.

In North Carolina, independent presidential candidates must reach 83,188 valid signatures instead of 13,865 for nominees of political parties.

Last week, two voters filed a lawsuit in Nevada alleging that Mr. Kennedy must be registered without a political party affiliation to run as an independent in the state.

The legal action brought forth on June 20 by Uwe Rockenfeller and Francisco Morales in the U.S. District Court in Carson City claims that Mr. Kennedy is seeking the nominations of political parties in six states but is running as an independent. The plaintiffs are asking that the court remove Mr. Kennedy from Nevada’s general election ballot.