Court battle over RFK Jr. leaves NC absentee ballots in limbo

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The rapidly changing situation about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s fight to take his name off the North Carolina presidential ballot has left millions of absentee ballots in limbo.

As things stand, the North Carolina State Board of Elections announced it is appealing to the North Carolina Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals ruled that ballots would need to be reprinted without Kennedy's name.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr said he disagreed with the Court of Appeals ruling, saying such a big change came too late in the game.

"I think what Kennedy and company don't see or don't care about is the cost and the disruption," Orr said.

It's a disruption that he said would hurt the military members, students, and many others who rely on absentee ballots. Statewide, approximately 2.9 million ballots had already been printed and were ready to be mailed out when the decision put things on hold.

The cost for all 100 counties to reprint ballots without Kennedy's name could cost about $1 million across the state.

"It is pretty callous in expecting the taxpayers of this state to pay for that last-second decision and to put this additional burden on election workers and delay the opportunity for people to get their absentee ballots," Orr said.

There's also the politics at play. Now that Kennedy has endorsed Trump and ended his campaign, he's specifically making a push in swing states such as North Carolina and Michigan to take his name off to not be a spoiler in a close race.

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"In states where it really doesn't matter he's fine with staying on the ballot but in states where he could potentially now do harm to Trump's chances now that he has basically made a détente with Donald Trump, that's where he's trying to excise himself and remove that potential impact," said professor Michael Bitzer, from Catawba College.

Ironically, it was Democrats who initially fought to keep Kennedy, a former Democrat, off the ballot when it seemed his chances would hurt them at the ballot box. Now it's Republicans and the Trump campaign who believe the state should honor his wishes.

"They should allow RFK Jr to be on the ballot if he wants or to remove himself from the ballot if he wants as long as he's doing within the legal bounds. which he is trying to do," Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for Trump's campaign told ABC11.

The Board of Elections said it will spend the weekend coding ballots that would have Kennedy's name removed as it awaits a final decision. The NCBOE asked the State Supreme Court to make an expedited decision.