North Carolina Court of Appeals removes RFK Jr. from ballot, pauses sending of absentee ballots

The North Carolina Court of Appeals removed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s name from the presidential ballot on Friday and paused the sending of absentee ballots for the November election.

The appeals court ordered that the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) is “enjoined from disseminating ballots” that list Kennedy as a presidential candidate. The absentee ballots were originally scheduled to be sent out on Friday.

The decision comes one day after Wake County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Holt denied Kennedy's request for a temporary restraining order, thus allowing county elections boards to send absentee ballots with Kennedy's name on them. Kennedy was given 24 hours to appeal the decision, with Holt ordering ballots to not be sent out before noon on Friday.

The independent presidential candidate suspended his campaign last month and endorsed GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

During Kennedy's speech withdrawing from the presidential race, he said, “[i]n about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler, I'm going to remove my name, and I've already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me.”

Kennedy is now removing his name from the ballot in more states than previously planned, as he urged his supporters in every state on Friday to vote for Trump. He previously said his supporters could still vote for him on the ballot in uncompetitive states.

In response to the appeals court's order, the NCSBE told all county boards of election on Friday to not send out any absentee ballots. The board added that it has yet to decide whether it will appeal the appeals court's decision.