North Carolina's election board voted Tuesday to certify a political party that wants to put Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the state's presidential ballot this fall. The panel rejected a similar petition effort by a group backing Cornel West, citing questions about how signatures were collected.
After weeks of reviewing the signature drives, the board voted 4-1 to recognize the We The People party that Kennedy, an author and environmental lawyer, is using as a vehicle to run in a handful of states. The election board decision means the party can place Kennedy on statewide ballots.
The board's Democratic majority voted 3-2 along party lines to block the Justice for All Party of North Carolina from ballots. That group is backing West, a professor and progressive activist.
We The People and Justice for All each collected enough valid signatures from registered and qualified voters. The 13,865 required are a small fraction of those needed to run as an independent candidate in North Carolina, which Kennedy initially attempted.
MORE: www.wcnc.com/a...