Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fought to get on the North Carolina ballot. Now he can't get away. • NC Newsline

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must remain on the North Carolina ballot, even though he and his new party, We the People, have called for his removal.

The state election board voted along party lines to keep Kennedy on the ballot, with Democrats citing that the state's deadline for mail-in ballots was September 6 and that most counties had already begun printing ballots.

Kennedy announced last Friday that he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump. He said he would remove his name from the ballot in 10 swing states, but his decision clashes with withdrawal deadlines in several states.

The Kennedy campaign team tried for months to get him on the North Carolina ballot through his We the People party.

Thursdays The vote by the Electoral College marked a reversal in the assessment of Kennedy's candidacy. The two Republican representatives who had passionately campaigned for Kennedy's inclusion on the ballot over the summer fought Thursday to exclude him from the ballot, and the three Democrats who had been skeptical of his inclusion from the start voted to keep him on the ballot.

“People are already printing out their sample ballots,” said board member Siobhan Millen, the only member to vote against We the People's recognition as a political party. Party recognition allowed Kennedy to appear on the ballot.

“The legal deadline of September 6 cannot be ignored simply because of the capricious behavior of a candidate of any party — any party, any person,” she said. “I think this whole affair is a farce. I feel sorry for anyone who was deceived.”

State Elections Commissioner Karen Brinson Bell told the panel that 67 of the state's 100 counties had received their mail-in ballots or would receive them by the end of Thursday. Demand for mail-in ballots is high, she said, and counties are preparing to mail them to voters next Friday, a date set by law. The company that prints most of the ballots estimated that 80 of the 93 counties it works for had begun preparing ballots and ballot coding.

This single company printed 1.73 million ballots, she said.

“When we talk about printing ballots, we don't mean pressing the 'copy' button on a photocopier,” Brinson Bell said.

Republican board member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV questioned Brinson Bell’s instructions to county committees to continue printing ballots after Kennedy’s press conference Friday afternoon.

She defended her instructions to counties, saying she could not advise counties to stop printing ballots because they risked missing the Sept. 6 deadline because of a press conference.

“We knew of a press conference by Mr. Kennedy on Friday last week. However, Mr. Kennedy did not file as an independent candidate and we have not heard of any decision by the We the People Party based on his press conference. So I instructed the states to proceed with their correction processes. I have sent a copy to the board on this,” she said. “Our staff and districts continue to work as usual, including on weekends, so that we can meet the statutory deadline.”

Eggers said he received a copy of a letter signed by Kennedy asking to be removed from the ballot. Kennedy's wishes should be respected, he said.

Because Kennedy is a candidate of his party and not an independent candidate, he cannot withdraw himself.

Board member Jeff Carmon, a Democrat, said he would endorse Eggers if Kennedy did not run as an independent in his fight for recognition as a party candidate.

“The fact that he is behaving as an independent and that we are taking that into account simply contradicts everything we have been through in the last few weeks.

The board of We the People North Carolina voted 4-1 on Wednesday to remove Kennedy and his running mate Nicole Shanahan from the ballot.