North Carolina's election board voted 3-2 not to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s name from the presidential ballots in the state despite Kennedy's filing request to do so.

The board claimed that it was already in the middle of printing ballots when the request was received. The vote to decline the removal of Kennedy was along party lines, with three Democrats voting against doing so and two Republicans wanting to honor the request.

Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign August 23 and requested that his name be removed from ballots in the state on the same day.

The board's decision not to do so came six days later.

Kennedy suing

Kennedy is suing the state over the decision, saying that his campaign did everything it was supposed to do to get his name removed.

“To the extent NCSBE claims it is ‘impractical’ to remove him from the ballot, it is an issue of NCSBE’s own making," Kennedy said.

The former independent candidate has decided to endorse former President Donald Trump and hopes the 5% or so of voters who supported him at the time will now vote for Trump instead.

North Carolina is one of seven swing states that could decide a close election between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.

Other lawsuits

The election board already faces four other lawsuits over its practices, including its refusal to allow Cornel West on the ticket and its practices that could allow noncitizens to vote.

The fighting is fierce because of its swing state status and the expectation that the election could be close enough that these policies could make the difference.

The state's 16 electoral votes could be pivotal; unfortunately, Democrats have managed to gain a lot of power in the state in recent years.

Among swing states, only Pennsylvania has more electoral votes at stake (19). Georgia also has 16 and Michigan has 15.

Will it be close?

Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2020 even though he didn't ultimately get enough electoral votes to win the presidency overall.

While he had a healthy margin in polls against President Joe Biden because of his declining mental state, advanced age, and poor policies, the polls have narrowed considerably with Vice President Kamala Harris as Biden's replacement.