On August 12, the Justice for All Party won its North Carolina ballot access lawsuit in federal court.  Ortiz v North Carolina State Board of Elections, e.d., 5:24cv-420.  The State Board of Elections had rejected the party’s petition even though the county boards had said it had enough valid signatures.

The Democratic Party and the State Board of Elections had said the petition should not be approved because a small sample of the voters said they did not remember signing the petition, but the opinion says that is not persuasive.  Also the opinion says there is nothing illegal about outside groups helping a new party to collect signatures.  The decision is by U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle, a Reagan appoointee.

On August 12, a New York state trial court judge in Albany removed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., from the ballot, on the grounds that his address on his declaration of candidacy was not accurate.  Cartwright v Kennedy, 906349-24, Albany Co. Supreme Court.

See the decision here.

The judge had refused to let Kennedy make arguments about the constitutionality of the law.  He will appeal.  The decision does not mention Trump v Anderson, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that said Article Two implicitly bars letting states reject presidential candidates from the ballot, thus creating a “patchwork.”  Nor does the decision deal with the point that the true candidates in a presidential election in November are the candidates for presidential elector.

This is only the second time in U.S. history that a presidential candidate has been removed from a general election ballot on the basis that a residence address on an election document is not accurate.  The first instance was in 2020, when the Wisconsin State Board of Elections removed the Green Party ticket because the vice-presidential nominee had moved during the petition drive, so that her address was inaccurate on some of the petition sheets.

If the decision is not reversed, New York will probably be the only state in November in which only two names are on the ballot for president.

On August 12, a North Carolina state court trial judge ruled that the We the People Party should remain on the North Carolina ballot.  This is the party that nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for president.  See this story.  The hearing was on August 12 and the judge ruled at the conclusion.

The State Board had accepted the party’s petition, but then the Democratic Party had sued to reverse that decision.

UPDATE:  see this story, which has more detail about the court hearing than the first story.