“Imposes a Tremendous Hardship on Our County Boards” … “Ballot Chicanery Is Getting Ridiculous” … “Characteristically Erratic”… “Increasingly Bizarre and Contradictory Positions In His Ongoing Crusade to Inject Pandemonium Into the 2024 Election” 

After fighting to get his name on the ballot across the country, RFK Jr. is now seeking to have it removed. This ballot crusade has proven to be costly to voters in North Carolina and threatens additional costs in Wisconsin and Michigan. To cause further confusion, and for reasons known only to him, RFK Jr. has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to include his name on the ballot in New York. 

COSTS IN NORTH CAROLINA: 

• It could cost more than $1 million statewide and $300,000 in Wake County alone, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.  
• In Cumberland County, reprinting will mean a bigger share of taxpayer money — the new total is $60,209. The original – now unusable — ballots cost the county $51,360.
• Elections officials estimate that reprinting ballots will cost $55,100 in Durham County; $25,000 in Mecklenburg County; $22,000 in Iredell County; $18,000 in Caldwell County; $16,000 in Forsyth County; $15,000 in Columbus County; $12,000 in Guilford County; $5,000 in Clay County; and $1,000 in Stokes County. 
• WRAL News contacted the 10 counties with the most ballots requested already. Most said they will pay 25% more than the initial costs to have the ballots reprinted.
• Ballots were supposed to be sent on September 6, but, instead, were sent two weeks after the state deadline.

Slate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has Sabotaged Early Voting in a Critical Swing State: “This complex process will significantly delay the distribution of new ballots… It’s a nightmare for local election officials.”

The New York Times: North Carolina Absentee Ballots Delayed After Fight Over RFK Jr.: “North Carolina’s 100 counties have begun reprinting November election ballots and will send them about two weeks late to absentee voters, the outcome of a messy political impasse… It will prove a major headache for county election boards, which now must reprint millions of ballots that must be tailored to 2,348 arrangements of candidates and ballot measures, depending on where voters live.”

Executive director of the State Board of Elections, Karen Brinson Bell said in a statement that the court order “imposes a tremendous hardship on our county boards, at an extremely busy time.”

Danner McCulloh, the board’s public records coordinator, said, “Everything was sealed and ready to go out on Sept. 6, and then we got the directive to basically shred all that and start over.” 

WRAL: With RFK Jr. off the ballot, Wake County to pay about $66K to reprint ballots

“Wake County Board of Elections member Gerry Cohen said Wake County has about 20,000 ballots to reprint. […] ‘Everything has been scrapped,’ Cohen said of the ballots initially printed.”

COSTS IN WISCONSIN: 

• RFK Jr. is demanding that Wisconsin election officials place stickers over his name on 4 million ballots to prevent voters from casting a vote in his favor.
• Reprinting 600,000 ballots without RFK Jr.’s name would cost $80,000 in Milwaukee County alone.

The New Republic: RFK Jr.’s Pro-Trump Election Interference Is Just Getting Ridiculous: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing to sow chaos with his spoiler campaign antics […]. Wisconsin election officials have balked at the request, which has never been tested.” 

Rolling Stone: Wood County Clerk Trent Miner: “With over 1,800 municipal clerks statewide, uniformity of any sticker placement becomes a real concern.”

Slate: “On the front end, it would require an immense amount of additional work for county clerks, many of whom serve in the role in a part-time capacity, and none of whom has the budget for such extra labor. […] And it would halt the mailing of absentee ballots abruptly and indefinitely, even though they are already going out to voters.”

Rolling Stone:“Election officials in the swing state have called the idea a ‘logistical and administrative nightmare.’” 

The New Republic: “Wisconsin election officials have balked at the request, which has never been tested.” 

Slate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has a New Plan to Paralyze the Vote Count in a Critical Swing State: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is taking increasingly bizarre and contradictory positions in his ongoing crusade to inject pandemonium into the 2024 election. […] That may well be the point: He appears eager to aid Republican candidate Donald Trump by acting not as a surrogate but as a chaos agent. […] At this point, RFK Jr. is running Schrödinger’s campaign, simultaneously seeking and disavowing the presidency in different states.” 

Rolling Stone: RFK Jr.’s Ballot Chicanery Is Getting Ridiculous: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s zombie campaign is lurching toward Election Day in a characteristically erratic fashion.”

The New Republic: RFK Jr.’s Pro-Trump Election Interference Is Just Getting Ridiculous: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing to sow chaos with his spoiler campaign antics […].” 

COSTS IN MICHIGAN: 

• The costs of reprinting ballots without RFK Jr.’s name would fall on Michigan’s 83 counties. 
• The cost in Wayne County alone would be $500,000 according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

The Detroit News: Removing Kennedy’s name from ballots would ‘create chaos,’ secretary of state says: 

Assistant Attorneys General Erik Grill and Heather Meingast on Behalf of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson: “Granting any relief now would require all 83 counties to incur the expense of reprinting ballots and would create chaos for local jurisdictions in determining what to do with respect to absent voter ballots already delivered and potentially returned by voters.”