By Lynn Bonner

NC Newsline

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his campaign staff touted their progress in getting him on state ballots as a presidential candidate in a video news conference Wednesday, predicting people in every state will be able to vote for him.

Campaign officials focused on volunteer signature-gathering efforts, but gaining ballot access has been a financial drain, the New York Times has reported.

The effort to get Kennedy’s name on ballots is facing legal challenges in a number of states, including in North Carolina.

North Carolina Democrats are suing the state Board of Elections over its decision to recognize We the People as a political party, allowing Kennedy to be on the November ballot.

The state Democratic Party last week filed a lawsuit challenging the elections board’s 4-1 decision.

The lawsuit says the party was formed for the “sole purpose” of placing Kennedy’s name on the ballot. The decision to form a party allowed the Kennedy campaign to more easily collect required signatures. Political parties had to collect 13,865 verified signatures to qualify for recognition, while independent candidates running statewide had to collect 83,188 signatures to get their names on the ballot.

Several journalists on the Zoom call asked campaign representatives questions about challenges to petition signatures in specific states.

Neither Kennedy nor campaign officials took questions from North Carolina reporters. But Paul Rossi, a Kennedy campaign ballot access attorney, speaking in general about Democrats’ attempts nationwide to keep Kennedy off ballots, said they are “throwing spaghetti at the wall.”

We the People is named as a defendant in the North Carolina lawsuit, along with the state Board of Elections. None of the defendants had filed a response to the suit as of Wednesday afternoon. A hearing is set for Aug. 12.

Siobhan Millen, a Democrat and the only state Board of Elections member to vote against certifying We the People, said during the board debate last month that the group was created as a vehicle for Kennedy’s independent candidacy, not to be a sustainable political party. She noted that he is running as an independent in some states, and gained ballot access in other states by aligning with minor parties such as the Natural Law Party, the Reform Party and the Alliance Party of South Carolina.

Elections board Chairman Alan Hirsch voted reluctantly to approve We the People, but said it was a close call and that ultimately, a court would have to decide.

Throughout Wednesday’s  news conference, Kennedy campaign staff referred to him and his running mate Nicole Shanahan as independent candidates.

Shanahan called Kennedy a third party candidate, then said they were not trying to create a third party.

“We have approached this as a unity ticket,” she said. “We’re not here trying to create a breakaway third party. We are here to unite the country in every way imaginable.”

Investigative Reporter Lynn Bonner covers the state legislature and politics, as well as elections, the state budget, public and mental health, safety net programs and issues of racial equality.