A week after he ended a third-party presidential campaign and endorsed former President Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections, seeking to have his name removed from the state's ballot before November.
During his campaign hiatus, Kennedy said he planned to keep his name on the ballot in safe states where Democrats and Republicans would win, but that he didn't want to be a stickler in battleground states.
Recent polls have shown a close race in North Carolina between President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Kennedy's lawsuit comes shortly after he spent the summer collecting signatures for his party, the For the People Party, in an effort to run in North Carolina.
Kennedy Jr. says Trump has 'changed as a person' and is 'focused on his legacy'
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to reporters at Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, New York, on August 21. (AP Photo/Stephen Jeremiah, Poole)
The elections board on Thursday in a 3-2 vote rejected Kennedy's request to leave the district, arguing that nearly 2 million ballots have already been printed in 67 of the district's 100 counties and that it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to print them again, with Sept. 6 being the first deadline for absentee voting.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blasted the “mainstream media aligned with the Democratic National Committee” and accused them of orchestrating Harris' rise.
RFK Jr. endorsed former President Trump after dropping out of the presidential race last week. (Reuters/Tsuyoshi Nakamura)
“When we talk about printing ballots, we're not talking about pressing the 'copy' button on a Xerox machine. This is a much more complicated and layered process,” said board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell.
“With the November election looming and the deadline to vote looming, Mr. Kennedy has no choice but to seek immediate relief from this Court,” the lawsuit states.
Kennedy suspended his nascent campaign last week. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
He added that the elections board's decision violated his speech and state election law, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Kennedy dropped out of the race, arguing that he could become president if neither Trump nor Harris reached 270 electoral votes. On August 23, Kennedy appeared onstage with Trump for the first time.
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“Don't you want a president who will protect American freedoms and protect us from totalitarianism?” Kennedy said at a rally in Glendale, Arizona.
“Don't you want a safe environment for your children? Don't you want to know that the food you're feeding them is free of chemicals that cause cancer and chronic disease? And don't you want a president who will make America healthy again?”
Kennedy's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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