On Wednesday, a divided North Carolina election board decided to review more closely the efforts of political groups aiming to become official state parties by gathering signatures. Supporters aim to place Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West on the upcoming presidential ballot in this competitive state.
The We The People party and Justice for All Party of North Carolina launched petition drives to earn official party status. This required collecting a smaller number of valid signatures from registered voters compared to what Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, and West, a progressive activist and professor, would need if they ran independently statewide.
State election officials confirmed to the board that both groups had submitted more than the required 13,865 valid signatures.
Ruby Rose speaks at a news conference (Via Frank Finch/Getty Images)
Based on these numbers, the board’s two Republican members supported motions to formally recognize the We The People party and Justice for All Party so they could nominate candidates.
However, the three Democratic members opposed the motions. They agreed that further scrutiny was necessary regarding the organizations’ operations, including how signatures were obtained, how volunteers presented the petition’s goals to voters, and what information was included on petition lists.
Democratic board member Siobhan O’Duffy Millen expressed concerns about the We The People party’s efforts, questioning whether volunteers accurately portrayed Kennedy as a potential nominee of the party rather than an independent candidate. Independent candidates would need to gather at least 83,188 qualifying signatures.
