Kanye West removed from the presidential ballot in two further states
Kanye West has been removed from the election ballot in Ohio and Illinois after being barred from featuring in Wisconsin.
The rapper’s 2020 presidential campaign, under the banner of The Birthday Party, has hit several snags since he announced it earlier this year, including missing deadlines to get his name on the ballot in numerous states.
After today’s (August 21) earlier news that West had been barred from appearing on the ballot in Wisconsin because he filed his paperwork late, a further two states have returned verdicts on whether he can be named on the voting slip in November.
Ohio election officials have removed him from the ballot due to mismatched paperwork. According to Cincinatti.com, the Ohio secretary of state’s office judged that both the signature and information presented on West’s petition and statement of candidacy didn’t match up to those featured on petitions signed by voters.
In a statement, Ohio secretary of state Frank LaRose said: “A signature is the most basic form of authentication and an important, time-honoured, 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.
“There is no doubt that the West nominating petition and declaration of candidacy failed to meet the necessary threshold for certification.”
Although the star’s name will not feature on the ballot come the election, he could still file to run as a write-in candidate.
The rapper has also been taken off the ballot in his home state of Illinois. The board of elections reinforced an earlier decision made by a hearing officer that a majority of the signatures submitted by West were invalid or fraudulent, according to Consequence Of Sound.
Each state requires a certain number of signatures to be submitted to grant a candidate access to appearing on the election ballot.
Currently, West’s name will appear on ballots in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah and Vermont. Decisions are still pending in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia.
Recently, a poll revealed that only two percent of Black voters in the US were behind West in his bid to become the next President.
