RFK Jr.'s fight to stay off the ballot in North Carolina causes chaos

Mail-in voting in North Carolina, a key swing state, could be delayed as former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fights to have his name removed from the ballot.

WRAL reports that the ballots were supposed to be mailed out on Friday, the state's deadline, but the North Carolina Court of Appeals ordered a pause and ordered officials to print new ballots without Kennedy's name.

The ballot revision – central to Kennedy's plan to boost Donald Trump's chances against Kamala Harris – could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and lead to weeks of delays, WRAL reported.

This is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle in North Carolina — and there may be more challenges ahead.

Kennedy first asked to be removed from mail-in ballots in North Carolina just days after he dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump — and had already begun printing ballots in many counties.

When the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) refused, he filed a lawsuit.

On Thursday, a judge ruled in favor of the NCSBE and ruled that Kennedy's name should remain, but on Friday, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned that decision.

The NCSBE could still appeal.

The agency provided Business Insider with a memo from its general counsel, Paul Cox, addressed to county election officials. The memo said NCSBE lawyers were reviewing the matter, but no decision had been made on an appeal.

The memo also asked directors not to mail ballots but to keep existing ballots.

The Kennedy team did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

While his status in North Carolina remains uncertain, similar requests by Kennedy to be removed from the ballot have been rejected in swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Colorado.

But an appeals court in the state of Michigan overturned the rejection and ordered RFK Jr. to be removed from the ballot. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson plans to appeal the ruling. NBC News reported.