Appeals courts in both North Carolina and Michigan ruled Friday in favor of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being able to remove his name from their state ballots.
Both decisions are ultimately favorable to Republican candidate former President Donald Trump in the swing states where he is in a tight race with the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the latest polling.
Kennedy endorsed Trump last month in Phoenix, Arizona and announced he would be pulling his name from 10 key swing states in order to boost the GOP presidential nominee’s chances.
Prior to Friday’s rulings, he had been successful in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. A court in Georgia had also decided last month RFK Jr. was ineligible to appear on its ballot. The candidate has pulled his name from the Florida and Texas ballots, as well.
However, lower courts in North Carolina and Michigan had ruled against Kennedy saying his request was too late.
The Associated Press reported North Carolina’s first absentee ballots were to be mailed Friday, but State Board of Elections attorney Paul Cox told election directors via email in all 100 counties after Friday’s ruling to hold on to the current ballots, but not to send them.
So far over 2.9 million in-person and absentee ballots have been printed.
Cox said in the email that no decision has been made whether the state will appeal the court of appeals ruling.
Regarding RFK Jr.’s suit in Michigan, a three-judge Court of Appeals held that “While the request was made close to the deadline for defendant to give notice of candidates to local election officials, it was not made so late that laches should apply,” according to The Detroit News.
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“Additionally, we conclude that the absence of any statutory authority prohibiting his withdrawal gave plaintiff a clear legal right to have his name removed from the ballot,” the judges said.
Previously Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office had denied Kennedy’s request to have his name taken off the ballot.
“Angela Benander, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s office, said state election officials were ‘still reviewing’ the appellate court decision and hadn’t yet decided whether to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, where Democratic-nominated justices hold a 4-3 majority,” The Detroit News reported.
Last month, the Wisconsin Elections Commission determined Kennedy’s name would remain on the ballot, but the candidate filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to override the decision, according to the AP.
Kennedy’s nationwide support dropped by about 3 percentage points to about 5 percent nationally after President Joe Biden left the race and Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket.
Of RFK Jr.’s remaining supporters, Newsweek reported, despite his liberal views on some issues like the environment and abortion, he was drawing more votes from Trump than Harris based on recent surveys conducted by New York Times/Siena College and Emerson College.
In the Times survey, 41 percent of RFK supporters said they would back Trump, and 27 percent said they would vote for Harris in a two-way race.
Emerson College reportedly found the breakdown was 64 percent for Trump and 36 percent for Harris in a two-way contest.
Meaning, Trump will likely get a net 1 or 2 percent bump with RFK Jr.’s endorsement.
The amount could determine the race in some battleground states like North Carolina and Michigan, where the Trump and Harris are separated by approximately 1 percentage point or less, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
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