The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the state Democratic Party's request to make President Biden the only Democratic presidential candidate.
The five-member State Board of Elections voted unanimously last month to maintain the list of candidates provided by the state's Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties. The board had given initial approval to these names at its Dec. 19 meeting, when members agreed to reconvene Tuesday to consider additional names before ballots are printed. I also agreed.
Five more people applied to participate in the presidential primary but were unsuccessful, board officials said. The Democrats included Congressman Dean Phillips, author Marianne Williamson and media personality Cenk Uyghur, and the Green Party included Jill Stein. A lawyer for the committee said Tuesday it was unclear why another primary campaign official, Louis Rabin, had requested the appearance.
Williamson responded to X, writing, “North Carolina is fully cooperating with the DNC. There are no Democrats, but Biden will be on the ballot.”
“We regret that the North Carolina State Board of Elections has abdicated its authority to protect North Carolina voters from the North Carolina Democratic Party's attempts to circumvent democracy,” Williamson's campaign said in a statement. “It's not the State Election Commission's job to protect incumbents. It's the State Election Commission's job to supervise elections in a nonpartisan manner.”
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President Biden stands on the South Lawn of the White House after arriving at Marine One on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“According to the entry criteria set forth in North Carolina law, Marianne Williamson is an FEC-certified presidential candidate, has received extensive national news media coverage, is a Democrat, and meets all requirements for the Office of the President.” “It is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” her campaign argued. “Their decision to protect the party rather than the voters is a failure to protect democracy itself. The North Carolina State Board of Elections has shamed itself and the voters of North Carolina. ’s democratic crisis is systemic.”
Phillips also condemned the decision, saying he “never imagined that Democrats in Florida and North Carolina would use Iranian tactics to secure the outcome of the election.”
“North Carolina law requires political parties to list presidential candidates who are 'generally supported and recognized in the news media,' and I am,” Phillips wrote. “That's why 15 people voted in 2020: Biden, Sanders, Bloomberg, Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Steyer, Gabbard, Yang, Booker, Bennett, Patrick, Williamson, Delaney, Castro.”
Marianne Williamson speaks at a campaign event on Thursday, November 9, 2023, at the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus. (Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
“This year, Democrats decided they didn't want the election, so they fooled voters by putting just Biden's name on the ballot,” he added. “The destruction of democracy by the people tasked with protecting democracy.”
State law directs political parties to provide a list of candidates whose candidacy for the nation's highest office is “generally supported and recognized in the press throughout the United States or in North Carolina.” The law gives the board discretion to add additional candidates that a majority believes meet the same criteria. However, none of the board members suggested doing so.
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Directors speaking Tuesday said it would be appropriate to defer to the wishes of political parties, which ultimately hold primaries aimed at selecting delegates to their respective national conventions.
“We keep in mind that these are private political parties and they have the right to organize,” Stacey For Eggers, one of the board’s two Republicans, told The Associated Press. The other three members are registered Democrats.
On October 27, 2023, U.S. Representative Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota) holds a rally outside the New Hampshire State Capitol after handing over his presidential candidacy to New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan. (Galen Morse/Getty Images)
State Democratic Party spokesman Tommy Mattox last month defended the party's decision to field only Biden as a candidate, saying, “To get on the ballot, you have to have donors in the state and be active in the state.” “We need to carry out an election campaign based on the policy of the government,'' he said in a written statement. Phillips and Williamson “haven't been here this season,” Mattox told The Associated Press.
As for Mr. Stein, the North Carolina Green Party sent a letter to the board last month saying it would not participate in the March primary and would instead field a general election candidate after the party's nominating convention.
The board also included former President Trump on the Republican ballot, despite efforts in some states to disqualify him. In addition to Trump, the state Republican Party has endorsed Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy as candidates on the presidential ballot.
The board voted 4-1 two weeks ago that the U.S. Constitution disqualifies Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Rejected a challenge to Trump's candidacy by Stokes County voters who claimed Brian Martin's challenge alleges that President Trump violated the 14th Amendment by removing from office people who once swore an oath to uphold the Constitution but later “engaged in” “insurrection and insurrection” against the Constitution. I decided to expel him. The amendment was cited in court decisions in Colorado and Maine that barred Trump from voting in those states.
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In North Carolina, a majority of the commission found it lacked the authority under state law to consider such a major issue. Martin, a former lawyer who served in the administration of Republican U.S. presidents, appealed the board's decision last week to Wake County Superior Court, asking for swift action. Absentee ballots will begin being mailed to voters who request them within three weeks.
The Libertarian Party will keep 10 names on the North Carolina presidential primary ballot. Voters in the presidential primary can also cast a “no preference” vote instead of voting for a candidate. The No Label Party, which like the Green Party is an official political party in North Carolina, could also provide presidential votes to be placed on the general election ballot.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
