The 5-1 vote came after commission staff released a report on Tuesday concluding that West and his running mate, Michelle Tidball, had not submitted nomination papers on time on August 4th.
The commissioners, three Republicans and three Democrats, rejected the argument of West’s lawyer, Michael Curran, that the campaign had until 5:01 p.m. to order.
Wisconsin law states that candidates must submit nomination papers “no later than 5 o’clock” Jeffrey Mandell, a lawyer for Wisconsin’s Democratic Party, said the evidence is clear that West’s team submitted the papers late and “they can not be allowed.”
“Five o’clock is five o’clock,” said Republican Commissioner Dean Knudson. “Maybe I’m just common sense and not a lawyer.”
Republican Robert Spindell was the only commissioner to vote for West, claiming the commission would give West the chance.
The commission also voted 6-0 to give access to the Libertarian presidential card, but tied 3-3 over whether the Greens should have it, which is now expected to be settled in court.
Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party, said in a statement that the Wisconsin Democrats “have successfully fought to deny access to a vote to an African-American because he was seconds late with his paperwork. . ”
“The left wants to wipe out any liberal competition for Democrats while ensuring that a Libertarian is on the ballot to sift through Republican votes,” Jefferson said. “Democrats are only interested in electing voters if they believe they will benefit. If they do not benefit, they will not give anything.”
Ann Jacobs, chairwoman of the Wisconsin Electoral Commission and a Democrat, said she sees no “hypocrisy” in the commission’s decision not to give West a vote.
“I do not think it is unreasonable to expect people seeking higher office to do something as simple as walk through a door for 5 hours at night, which is the deadline,” Jacobs told reporters.
Black Democratic officials and progressive activists in Wisconsin had for the most part reacted with disgust to West’s efforts in what is expected to be among the most crucial swing states in the November election. But some utter sadness that – if the presidential race there is a nail-biter – West that even deserves a fraction of the 188,000 votes that went to third parties four years ago as independent candidates in the state, could become a major factor.
The effort has raised questions about whether Republicans are pushing for the rapper’s addition to the ballot as a way to siphon Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 by less than 1 percentage point.
The Republican strategy makes use of a perceived lack of support for Biden among young Black voters, despite the fact that Biden largely won the Democratic primary because of his deep support among Black voters.
Polling shows that Biden has a massive lead with Black voters – an analysis of 10 polls by CNN’s Harry Enten in July found that he leads among Black voters, 83% to 8%.
But Biden’s support among Black adults is not monolithic and is much stronger with older Black adults. A recent Washington Post poll found that 87% of Black seniors said the former vice president is “sympathetic to the problems of Black people in America,” while that figure drops to 66% with adults under 40.
West’s candidacy is a clear attempt to play into that dichotomy – the dual strategy of the Trump campaign to imitate both court younger Black men, while at the same time his campaign seeks to suppress support for Biden.
This story has been updated with comments from the Republican Party of Wisconsin executive director and the chairman of the Wisconsin Electoral Commission.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, Eric Bradner and Dan Merica contributed to this report.
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