- Election officials in several states, including Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Montana, have denied rapporteur Kanye West the opportunity to appear on her ballots on issues with her candidacy applications.
- Earlier in August, the West campaign withdrew its request to appear on the ballot in New Jersey after election officials were concerned about the legitimacy of the signatures he submitted there.
- By the time West first declared his candidacy, he had already missed the deadline to appear on the ballot as an unopposed candidate in four states.
- West announced his start of the third party in early July, and has made headlines for a chaotic campaign that included late-night tweets about his marriage to Kim Kardashian West, controversial remarks about abortion and vaccinations, and repeated accusations that his campaign exists to attract support from Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
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Rapper, fashion designer, and president hopeful Kanye West will not appear on the ballot in Wisconsin, Montana, Illinois or Ohio, election officials in those states decided late last week, marking the final blow to his tumultuous longshot presidential campaign.
On Thursday, the Wisconsin Election Commission decided in a 5-1 vote to restrict West’s access from her vote after West narrowed the deadline to run as a candidate in the state. State law required candidates to register with the Election Commission before 5 p.m. on August 4th. West’s campaign had registered seconds after the 5 p.m.
Business Insider’s Adam Payne reported earlier that Wisconsin Democrats asked the state earlier in August to block West from appearing on the ballot after the campaign submitted signatures to individuals named “Bernie Sanders” and “Mickey” Mouse. ”
Also on Thursday, Montana official elections considered only 3,972 of the signatures submitted by West to be valid, short of the 5,000 required by state law, the Billings Gazette reported. West’s campaign had submitted more than 8,000 signatures to appear on the ballot, although the majority of them were considered invalid.
Then, on Friday, election officials in Illinois and Ohio said West had not met the requirements to appear on his ballot.
“A signature is the most basic form of verification and an important, time-honored, security measure to ensure that a candidate strives to be eligible to vote and that a voter is asked to sign a legitimate petition,” states Secretary of State Frank of Frank LaRose, a Republican, said in a news release. “There is no doubt that the Western nomination of petition and declaration of candidacy did not meet the required threshold for certification.”
Ohio law also requires 5,000 signatures on the ballot; the West’s campaign had submitted 14,886, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. As the Enquirer noted, West has until 5 a.m. Monday to register as an enrollment candidate in the Ohio poll.
West will not appear on the ballot in his home state of Illinois
In Illinois, where West was raised, officials said on Friday that he also failed to meet state requirements to appear at the November vote. While Illinois typically asks candidates to collect 25,000 signatures to appear on the ballot, the state reduced the requirement to 2,500 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Politico reported. However, the Illinois Election Board decided Friday that only 1,200 of West’s signatures were legitimate.
West will also not appear in the New Jersey vote after withdrawing its application earlier in August amid concerns over the legitimacy of the submitted signatures.
As Business Insider reported at the time of its announcement of candidacy, West had already missed deadlines for filing in several states, including North Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, and Indiana. The 43-year-old’s campaign has since been marred by controversial moments, including late – night tweets about his marriage to Kim Kardashian West, comments on issues such as abortion and faxing, and accusations that his campaign exists to attract support from ‘ Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.
West still has petitions pending to appear on the ballot in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Tennessee, and he has already qualified to appear in Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Vermont, The Hill reported.
