The North Carolina Supreme Court has removed RFK Jr. from the presidential ballot.

• The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must be removed from the state's ballot as an independent presidential candidate.
• The absence of RFK Jr. could impact the outcome of the national presidential election because North Carolina has 16 Electoral College votes.
• In a six-candidate race in North Carolina, Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, leads Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. However, in a head-to-head matchup, Trump polls better than Harris.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina ordered the removal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s name from the November ballot.

The ruling Monday night may aid Donald Trump's chances in the national election by helping him defeat Kamala Harris in the key battleground state.

In a head-to-head matchup in North Carolina, Trump has a more than 1 percentage point edge over Harris, according to recent polling averages from RealClearPolling. In a six-candidate race, Harris leads Trump by a .4-percentage point margin in the state.

The winner of the presidential race receives 16 Electoral College votes from North Carolina, which could determine the outcome of the national election.

Hours after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy's name had to remain on the ballot in Michigan, North Carolina's high court made a 4-3 decision.

Kennedy, who initially endorsed Trump after suspending his presidential bid on Aug. 23, stated that he would remove his name from ballots in states where Trump outperformed Harris in head-to-head races.

Kennedy stated that remaining on the ballot in battleground states would likely result in a Democrat victory, according to consistent polling.

In Wisconsin, there is a pending lawsuit seeking to remove his name from the ballot.

In a two-candidate race, Trump performs better in all three states than he does in a six-candidate race.

The North Carolina court upheld the ruling of the state Court of Appeals, which supported Kennedy's challenge to the state Board of Elections' decision to allow him to remove his name from the ballot there.

The Supreme Court Justice Trey Allen wrote in the majority opinion that a ballot with misleading or inaccurate information about the candidates can interfere with one's right to vote according to their conscience.

"If Kennedy's name is on the ballot, it could disenfranchise countless voters who mistakenly believe he is still a candidate for office," wrote Allen, a Republican.

Despite being informed of Kennedy's intention to withdraw his name from the ballot for nearly a week, the state Board of Elections continued printing ballots that included his name.

"In many ways, the harm experienced by defendants as a result of the Court of Appeals' ruling is self-inflicted," Allen stated.

The Supreme Court recognized that speeding up the printing of new ballots would necessitate a considerable amount of time and effort from election officials and result in significant expenses for the state.

To safeguard voters' fundamental right to vote their conscience and have that vote counted, the North Carolina Constitution imposes a cost, as Trey stated.

Dissenting were Justices Anita Earls and Allison Riggs, both Democrats, and Republican Justice Richard Deitz.

"The court's ruling imposes a tremendous hardship on our county boards, particularly at an extremely busy time, as stated by Board of Election Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell."

Our election officials are professionals, and I am confident we will meet the challenge, Bell stated.

On Friday, elections officials were set to start sending out absentee ballots as per state law, but this was stopped due to an appeals court decision that same day.

More than 2.9 million ballots had already been printed.

The state Board of Election announced on Tuesday that county election boards are redesigning and reprinting ballots with Kennedy's name in light of the Supreme Court ruling.

The exact date when absentee ballots will be available for mailing is uncertain among election officials, but they anticipate it to be within the upcoming weeks, according to the statement.

The U.S. Department of Defense is being discussed with North Carolina officials in case they cannot meet the federal deadline to send military and overseas ballots to voters on Sept. 21.