- A Wake County judge will hold an Aug. 12 hearing in the state Democratic Party's lawsuit attempting to remove the We the People Party from North Carolina's election ballot.
- Democrats accuse presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his supporters of misusing state rules regarding ballot access for third parties.
- The lawsuit seeks a court order by Aug. 16 blocking We the People from the November ballot.
The North Carolina Democratic Party has secured an Aug. 12 court date in its bid to have the We the People Party removed from North Carolina’s election ballot this fall. Democrats accuse presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of misusing state rules regarding ballot access for third parties.
Court records indicate the hearing in Wake County Superior Court will address Democrats’ emergency motion for a preliminary injunction or an expedited hearing on the merits of the party’s lawsuit against the State Board of Elections.
Democrats seek a court order by Aug. 16.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 4-1 on July 16 to give We the People ballot access for November. Kennedy is We the People’s presidential nominee.
At the same meeting, the board rejected the Justice for All Party linked to left-of-center activist and academic Cornel West. A federal lawsuit is challenging the board’s decision against Justice for All.
Democrats filed a lawsuit on July 25 seeking to overturn the elections board’s decision about the party linked to RFK Jr., son of an assassinated 1968 Democratic presidential candidate and nephew of assassinated Democratic president John F. Kennedy.
“North Carolina law establishes different ballot-access requirements for unaffiliated candidates and political parties,” Democratic Party lawyers wrote. “One difference is the number of signatures required to get on the ballot: unaffiliated candidates must gather signatures from 1.5% of the voters in the last gubernatorial election, but new parties need only collect from 0.25%.”
“These signature requirements are different because the ‘attempt to form a new political party and the act of seeking office as an unaffiliated candidate ‘are entirely different’ endeavors,’” the complaint continued.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced many times that he is running as an independent candidate for President of the United States,” Democratic lawyers wrote. “In November 2023, Kennedy registered in North Carolina as an unaffiliated candidate and thus had to gather signatures from 83,188 registered voters (1.5%). But in January 2024, the Kennedy campaign decided that it would be easier to form a new political party — the WTP Party — with the ‘sole purpose’ of placing Kennedy’s name on the ballot. Through this maneuver, the Kennedy campaign purported to reduce its signature requirement from 83,188 (1.5%) to 13,865 (0.25%).”
The complaint cited comments from the elections board’s chairman, Democrat Alan Hirsch.
“Hirsch found that the WTP Party was a ‘subterfuge’ — a candidate campaign committee masquerading as a political party — but voted ‘reluctantly’ in favor of recognition because ‘ultimately a court would have to decide’ whether North Carolina law permits that maneuver,” Democrats’ lawyers wrote. “Hirsch explained that he was ‘not sure the Board should be the one that is standing in the way if someone wants to challenge that in court’ and opined that the challenger would ‘have a good case.’”
“The NCDP files this lawsuit so that a court can decide that important, recurring question,” the complaint explained. “The Board’s decision here collapses the distinction between candidates and parties, permitting campaign committees such as the Kennedy campaign to circumvent not only ballot-access rules but also the limits on campaign contributions and expenditures.”
“The Court should declare that North Carolina does not permit candidate campaigns to use the new-party recognition process to evade the requirements applicable to unaffiliated candidates,” Democratic lawyers wrote.
“The Democratic Party requests relief by August 16, 2024 to ensure there is sufficient time for the Board to print ballots for the November 5, 2024 general election,” lawyers wrote in a court filing seeking an emergency injunction. “North Carolina is the first in the nation to send out absentee ballots. Our state requires that absentee ballots be provided to voters 60 days before the election by September 6, 2024-unless an exception applies.”
While state courts will address We the People’s ballot access, a federal judge will determine in the days ahead whether the state elections board must add the Justice for All Party to the ballot. US District Judge Terrence Boyle held a hearing in that case Tuesday in Elizabeth City.