(The Center Square) – Capping a remarkable day of litigation, the Justice For All Party will be a part of the North Carolina election this fall following a federal judge’s ruling Monday night.
Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the State Board of Elections to grant the party access to the ballot as most of the nation tried to watch a social media interview involving former President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Boyle is on the bench in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Justice For All is the party led by presidential candidate Cornel West. West’s running mate is Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State-Los Angeles.
The injunction from Boyle means not only can West be a candidate for president on North Carolina ballots, the party can offer candidates for other races downballot. The party was denied access 3-2 by the state board on July 16, with Chairman Alan Hirsch, Jeff Carmon and Siobhan Millen – all Democrats – voting against inclusion and Republicans Stacy Eggers and Kevin Lewis in favor.
Boyle, in his ruling, said the board “conducted one flawed survey and extrapolated its conclusions to the rest of the signatures.” There was, he said, “ample time to further investigate JFA’s petitions to determine their sufficiency.”
He also wrote, “Narrow tailoring requires a scalpel; the Board used a blunt instrument. The Board effectively disenfranchised over 17,000 North Carolina voters who signed petitions to certify JFA as a new political party on flawed, highly suspect grounds.”
Earlier Monday, a state Superior Court judge in Wake County denied a request for injunction by the North Carolina Democratic Party that would have stopped the We The People Party from being on the ballot. That party supports Robert Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat.
The State Board of Elections has endured a rough summer lead-up to the general election, in particular the first 26 days of July. In that were a pair of lawsuits, a federal probe and a state probe, all tied to three parties submitting petitions to be recognized. Each had the 13,865 signatures.
Over the course of three board meetings June 26, July 9 and July 16, eventually the Constitution Party (July 9) and the We The People Party (July 16) were approved by the board. Justice For All, however, was denied and there was no intent given to reconsider the matter after that final meeting.
On social media, West says his campaign “is not for sale. It is dedicated to the pursuit of truth, justice and love.” On his campaign website, he describes it as a “revolution of values,” outlining a series of initiatives “designed to confront systemic inequalities and nurture a more equitable society.”
