RFK Jr sues to remove name from North Carolina ballot

Robert F Kennedy Jr suspended his independent presidential campaign in August

Robert F Kennedy Jr has sued North Carolina’s election board to get his name off the state’s ballot ahead of November's US presidential election, just months after he fought to have his name included in several states.

Mr Kennedy filed the lawsuit on Friday after the North Carolina Election Board denied his request to remove his name as a third-party candidate.

The former independent candidate suspended his campaign in August and endorsed the Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump.

Since then, he has fought to remove his name from ballots in several battleground states, saying he wants to avoid a Democratic win in those key races.

The lawsuit, filed in North Carolina’s Wake County Superior Court, alleges the state has “irreparably harmed” Mr Kennedy and interfered with his right to free speech by denying his request to be removed from the ballot.

Mr Kennedy’s lawsuit stated that with ballot deadlines looming, he had “no choice but to turn to this Court for immediate relief”.

The state’s majority Democratic board voted to deny his request earlier in the week, saying it would be impractical to remove him as some counties have already begun printing absentee ballots.

A reprint, they said, would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The two Republican members on the board disagreed, and argued that the state could delay the statutory deadline for absentee ballots being sent out.

Mr Kennedy’s name will appear on North Carolina’s ballot in November unless the court intervenes.

Similar requests by Mr Kennedy to have his name taken off ballots in the key swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin have also been denied.

These requests mark a reversal for Mr Kennedy, who earlier this year fought against legal challenges that would have removed him from the ballot in several states, including in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Nevada.

After his withdrawal from the race, the 70-year-old has said that he will work to remove his name in “battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler”.

Since suspending his campaign, Mr Kennedy has thrown his support behind Trump, who has vowed to appoint Mr Kennedy as a member of his presidential transition team should he get elected.

Mr Kennedy, who had been a member of the Democratic party for most of his life, added that “by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues”.

Meanwhile, he is trying to remain on the ballot in New York - a traditionally Blue state that favours Democratic candidates - where his presence likely would not alter the election’s outcome.