Start of voting in North Carolina to be further delayed due to RFK Jr. ballot challenge

The start of voting in North Carolina, which was scheduled to begin Friday, will be further delayed to let legal proceedings play out after an appeals court ordered the state to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballot.

In an email obtained by CNN, North Carolina Board of Elections General Counsel Paul Cox told county boards of elections to hold outgoing ballots.

“Our attorneys are reviewing the order and determining how to move forward,” Cox wrote. “No decision has been made on whether this ruling will be appealed.”

Kennedy dropped out of the race last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, but North Carolina’s Democratic-controlled State Board of Elections voted along party lines last week to reject Kennedy’s request to remove his name from the ballot, saying that it wouldn’t be practical to reprint ballots and delay the start of voting.

He challenged the decision in court and a judge ruled Thursday that his name should remain on the ballot but ordered the state to delay sending ballots out until noon on Friday to give Kennedy time to appeal, leading to the new order by the appeals court Friday morning.