Mail-in voting, which was supposed to start today in North Carolina, has been paused by a court order in a lawsuit attempting to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballot.
On Thursday, the Wake County Superior Court denied a request from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove his name from North Carolina ballots and reprint ballots without his name. The court also issued a pause on sending out absentee ballots until noon Friday to allow an opportunity for appeal. However, the Court of Appeals paused the ballot release even longer on Friday morning without reason.
State officials were to begin sending out ballots to the 130,400 absentee ballot requests, including more than 12,300 requests from military and overseas voters, on Friday. But the North Carolina Court of Appeals ordered elections officials to pause those efforts, and to start re-printing ballots without Kennedy’s name on them. Officials say that a re-print will cost tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and would also delay the start of mail-in voting by several weeks.
Election officials told county boards to hold on to the ballots they currently posses, which could mean the elections board will appeal the latest decision.
2024 General Election Dates and Deadlines
Here are key dates and deadlines for the 2024 general election in North Carolina:
- Oct. 11: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).*
- Oct. 17: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available.
- Oct. 29: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).*
- Nov. 2: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.).
- Nov. 5: General Election Day.
- Nov. 5: Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.).*
Voter registration and absentee voting deadlines are different for military and overseas citizen voters.
Parts of this article contributed by NC Start Board of Elections.
