RFK Jr. dropped from ballots in North Carolina, Michigan, appeals courts rule

• Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not appear on ballots in North Carolina and Michigan, appeals courts ruled in two separate decisions Friday.
• Election authorities in the two swing states had previously decided that Kennedy's name would remain on their ballots, rejecting a request from Kennedy to have his name removed.
• The rulings are good news for Donald Trump, who in North Carolina and Michigan polls better in a two-way race against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris than in a six-candidate race.

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not appear on ballots in North Carolina and Michigan, appeals courts ruled in two separate decisions Friday.

Election authorities in the two swing states previously decided that Kennedy's name would remain on their ballots, rejecting a request from Kennedy to withdraw from the race.

Friday's rulings are good news for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In North Carolina and Michigan, Trump polls better in a two-way race against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris than in a six-candidate race, according to polling averages from RealClearPolling.

When Kennedy suspended his long-shot campaign and threw his support behind Trump on Aug. 23, he said that he planned to remove his name from ballots in ten swing states where Trump stood to benefit from the race shrinking to a head-to-head matchup with Harris.

But Kennedy's plan was easier said than done. In three battleground states — North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin — state election authorities rejected Kennedy's request to get off the ballot.

North Carolina's State Board of Elections on Aug. 29 voted against the We The People Party, who nominated Kennedy in the state,