Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy will stay on the North Carolina ballot, according to the State Board of Elections, despite his recent decision to withdraw from battleground ballots and support former President Trump.
“The State Board of Elections on Thursday rejected a request from the We The People Party to remove its nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from the general election ballot, because it would not be practical to reprint ballots that have already been printed and meet the state law deadline to start absentee voting,” a press release reads.
“The State Board scheduled an emergency meeting for Thursday to consider the request,” the board said later in the release. “A majority of the Board determined it was too late in the process to change course and prepare and print new ballots across the state.”
The election board also featured the document from Kennedy's party that requested he and his running mate Nichole Shanahan be removed from the ticket in the Tar Heel state.
The news comes after the independent candidate announced he would suspend his campaign in the swing states that could decide the election against Trump. Kennedy said he would stay on the ballot in most red and blue states.
He joined the former president at a rally in Arizona earlier this month, where Trump welcomed him into the fold. Kennedy also announced earlier this week that he had been asked to join the GOP nominee's transition team.
North Carolina wasn't the first state to decline to remove Kennedy from the ballot. Both Michigan and Wisconsin, also key swing-states in the 2024 presidential election, also shot down the request.
“Minor party candidates cannot withdraw, so his name will remain on the ballot in the November election,” Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said in a Tuesday statement to Axios.
The Hill has reached out to the We The People Party of North Carolina and the Kennedy campaign for comment.
