Photo Credit: Kanye West/Twitter
Just a few days ago we reported on the ground team that Kanye West had hired to get on the ballot in a few states. Well checking in on his election progress and things aren’t looking quite as good as expected. First it started with his home state of Illinois where the Illinois State Board of Elections unanimously voted for him to be kept off of the ballot after failing to submit the required number of signatures. He had 412 pages of signatures with 2,500 in total but he was still 1,300 short.
Next up is Ohio where the Secretary of State Frank LaRose said he didn’t make the requirements to be on the ballot. Independent candidates have to file a valid joint nominating petition and statement of candidacy. LaRose said the information and signature on his nominating petition and statement of candidacy did not match the nominating petition and statement of candidacy signed by voters. West turned in nearly 15,000 signatures when only 5,000 were required and didn’t make it due to this technicality.
“A signature is the most basic form of authentication and an important, time-honored, security measure to ensure that a candidate aspires to be on the ballot and that a voter is being asked to sign a legitimate petition, LaRose said in a press release. “There is no doubt that the West nominating petition and declaration of candidacy failed to meet the necessary threshold for certification.” Smh
In Wisconsin, West missed the August 4th deadline by less than 5 minutes. The signatures were turned in by Lane Ruhland, former general counsel for the Wisconsin Republican Party who has represented the Trump campaign. “I regret it’s the case,” Republican Elections Commissioner Dean Knudson said. “I do not feel they filed timely.”
Election employee Cody Davies met Ruhland at the door seconds after 5:00 and by the time they got to the elevator it was almost 5:01 pm and told him the filing would be late. “When you’re late, you’re late,” Commissioner Julie Glancey said late Thursday. “We’ve knocked people off the ballot for being one signature short. If we are holding their feet to the fire on the number of signatures, we need to hold their feet to the fire on the time they file.” West’s attorney Michael Curran made the stunning argument that they had until 5:01 pm to submit and that they did within time. The one person who voted to have West’s petitions accepted, Republican Robert Spindell accused Democrats of intentionally keeping Black Americans off the presidential ballot to benefit Biden. Ultimately he missed by 14 seconds.
In Arizona it is reported that Kanye’s paying $8 per signature to get on the ballot and given how over 39,000 signatures are needed, that’s over a half million dollars for a campaign that’s likely going to result in losing. He has previously Trump supporting Republicans helping him with this campaign leaving gray area and a question on whether they are colluding with the Trump campaign. If so, that’s illegal but it’s hard to say without a paper trail as it very well is possible his voters may be looking for someone else to support. And with that being said, West is serving a Jill Stein vote for those unsatisfied with both party nominees.
