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By Matthew Robinson
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North Carolina rejected initial bids on Wednesday for certain third-party presidential candidates to make it onto the ballot for November's general election, in a move that could benefit President Joe Biden's chances of success.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 3-2 to postpone certifying three political parties, all of which are seeking to place presidential candidates on the ballot, the Associated Press reported.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seeking a place on the ballot as part of the We the People Party, while Cornel West hopes to secure a spot as part of the Justice for All Party. The right-wing Constitution Party is also seeking to nominate Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist, as its candidate in North Carolina, a critical swing state in the 2024 presidential election.
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If the parties receive official designation, the candidates require a significantly smaller number of signatures from eligible registered voters to make it onto the ballot compared to running statewide as an independent.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that We the People and Justice for All had produced more than the 13,865 signatures from valid voters required for them to be officially recognized and nominate a candidate, the AP reported. This is vastly below the 83,188 signatures required for an independent candidate.
The two Republican board members backed the motions to officially recognize the parties. However, the three Democrats on the board voted against them, requesting more analysis of the groups' operations.
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Alan Hirsch, the board's chair, told We the People members on Wednesday that the delay was "not intended to deny your status as a party," the AP reported.
He added: "It's just to do our job and to be sure that ... the people that signed the petition know the purpose and intent." Hirsh set another board hearing for early next month.
In response to the delay, Matt Mercer, the North Carolina GOP's communications director, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "There's no basis for 'investigation' of petitions. They met the number. Yesterday's meeting was a Kangaroo Court with 1 goal: Protect Joe Biden & Democrats."
The North Carolina Republican Party wrote on the platform: "Will the NC State Board of Elections follow the law or protect Joe Biden? We now have our answer. The State Board of Elections' majority have shown yet again there is no action too outrageous or too radical they won't make to protect Joe Biden and Democrats."
"Yesterday, the question was whether they would follow the law or protect Joe Biden. Today, we have the answer: a disgusting abuse of process that have yet again only served to protect Democrats at the expense of North Carolina voters."
In a statement, the party also said: "There is no valid reason not to approve the parties. Democrats tried this in 2022, trying to keep the Green Party off the ballot during a U.S. Senate race. The result? The Green Party won and Democrats were ordered to pay their legal fees.
"Yet, this is a party that has shown time and again there is no action too outrageous or too extreme they won't make to protect Joe Biden. This is the latest sign they are terrified they will lose North Carolina again just like Democrats have over the last several election cycles."
The North Carolina State Board of Elections told Newsweek: "At the direction of the State Board, agency staff will further review the sufficiency of the new party petitions submitted by the Constitution Party of North Carolina, the Justice for All Party of North Carolina, and the We the People Party, to ensure the petitions have complied with the legal requirements.
"Tentatively, the State Board plans to meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, to consider whether to recognize these parties as official political parties in North Carolina."
In 2008, Barack Obama won the Tar Heel State, the only Democrat to do so in the last 11 presidential elections. Though Trump won the state over Biden in 2020, he did so with only 1.34 percent of the vote—his narrowest state win—and North Carolina often elects Democratic governors. Seven of its last eight gubernatorial contests have gone blue.
If Kennedy and West do not make it onto the ballot, it would reduce the competition in the presidential election, which some believe would benefit Biden.
A poll of 600 likely general election voters, conducted between June 7 and 11 by Spry Strategies, showed Trump leading Biden in a head-to-head matchup 48 percent to 44 percent, with 8.5 percent undecided, The Carolina Journal reported.
Trump's lead increased when Kennedy was included, securing 45 percent of the vote to Biden's 37 percent and Kennedy's 8 percent.
Speaking to Newsweek, William F. Hall, an adjunct professor of political science and business at Webster University in St. Louis, said Biden's campaign would see North Carolina as a "critically important key state to win."
"So it makes perfect political sense for Biden to reinvest some additional time and political capital to continue to help shore up political support again in a state that is a major key Southern state," he said.
He added: "President Biden would also do well to continue to focus substantial political campaign energy and efforts to help gain political support among several of the Southern bloc of states, where his political capital has been in the past, and perhaps still is, most vulnerable."
Thomas Whalen, an associate professor who teaches U.S. politics at Boston University, said the state was "in play."
"Looks like the Biden camp's internal polling is saying the Tar Heel State is in play, which makes sense given its growing Democrat-friendly tech sector and large minority population," he told Newsweek.
He continued: "Even if he doesn't win the state, it makes Trump commit limited financial resources he might otherwise use in close battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, which Biden must absolutely run. Think of it as a strategy of political attrition."
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