'This Will Be A Major Undertaking': Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Gets Major Legal Victory In North Carolina, Michigan

On Friday, former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. won two decisive victories in the battleground states of Michigan and North Carolina after appeal courts there agreed that his name should be taken off the ballot after he exited the race last month to throw his support behind 45th President Donald Trump. The legal victories for RFK Jr. will prevent him from being a spoiler in the upcoming election in a race that is the closest electoral contest in decades.

In North Carolina, an appeals court ruled that Kennedy should be removed from the ballot as counties were about to send out ballots to military and overseas voters. The appeal court's decision will likely delay those ballots because it would force election officials to reprint the ballots with the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket removed. It is unclear whether the court's decision will be appealed.

In a message to election officials on Friday, Paul Cox, general counsel for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, explained that they will work on determining whether reprinting ballots is the correct step forward. "Obviously, this will be a major undertaking for everyone. Our attorneys are reviewing the order and determining how to move forward. No decision has been made on whether this ruling will be appealed," Cox explained to local election officials.

In Michigan, an appeals court agreed with Kennedy's lawyers that his name should be removed from the ballot after Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D-MI) denied RFK Jr.'s request to have his name stricken from the available presidential options. According to NBC News, Secretary of State Benson plans to appeal the decision, given that absentee ballots are set to be sent out soon and reprinting would delay them.

Following his exit from the race last month, Kennedy implored his supporters to back President Trump, given his support to combat chronic illness and support freedom of speech. During a recent interview on News Nation, Kennedy, Jr. explained that he wanted all of his supporters to vote for Trump in November to ensure that he could be part of an administration that is going to make America healthy again. "We're going to send a very strong message out to people that are my supporters, that we want them to vote for President Trump," he said. "If we are going to accomplish the mission that I set out to accomplish when I got into this campaign, to end the censorship, to end the surveillance, to get out of the Ukraine war, unravel the war machine, end the chronic disease epidemic. The only way to do that is to get President Donald Trump in the White House and me into Washington. So we are going to pull out all the stops to make sure that happens."

Here's why I am asking all of my supports to vote for President Trump. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/LXJWULWkT5

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 6, 2024

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