NC Board of Elections does not immediately approve RFK Jr. for presidential ballot

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — The North Carolina State Board of Elections has rejected initial bids for certain third party presidential candidates to make the ballot this November.

In a 3-2 vote, the Board voted to postpone the approval of candidacies by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West and Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry, saying it needs more time to review their petitions.

A Democratic-affiliated Super PAC recently challenged the three candidacies, questioning whether Kennedy followed the proper procedure under state law, whether the West petition was compromised by allies of former president Donald Trump, and whether the Constitution Party should be denied access amid questions about its chairman’s stated address.

State law requires new political parties to be certified by July.

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley released the following statement on the decision:

“Today the Democrat-controlled North Carolina Board of Elections has done Joe Biden’s bidding, willfully ignored North Carolina law, and betrayed the public trust of North Carolinians by voting not to qualify Cornel West or Robert Kennedy Jr. for the presidential ballot. The Chair of the North Carolina Democrat Party went as far as flippantly saying that “people can go ahead and sue us if they want.” This is one more example of Democrats fracturing trust in America’s democratic institutions and flouting the electoral process in their increasingly desperate attempts to hold onto political power — we are leaving all options on the table to remedy this issue.”