When Kanye West launched his shambolic bid for president on the Fourth of July, there were a lot of reasons to wonder why he was serious. After all, he’d already missed the deadline to get on the ballot in six states, and had no realistic chance of qualifying in several others. Since then, he has missed so many deadlines that it is mathematically impossible for him to win the Electoral College.
Since then, he has given some pretty loud indications that he is only staying in to siphon off votes from Biden. Even before then, a lot of people with clear Republican ties were helping Kanye qualify in several states. If that wasn't enough, Jared Kushner admitted he met with Kanye in Colorado earlier in the month. While Kushner says they didn’t discuss the presidential race, the fact that the First Son-in-Law even sat down with Kanye at all raised a lot of eyebrows.
But if—and it’s still a big if at this stage—Trump and Kanye are working together to screw Biden, it may be all for naught. In the space of 24 hours, Kanye was denied a spot on the ballot in two critical swing states—a development that all but eliminates any chance of him having any impact on the election.
First up, Wisconsin. On Thursday, the state election commission turned down Kanye’s bid to get on the ballot because he’d turned in his petitions too late.
West’s effort to get on the Wisconsin ballot was challenged because his documents were filed one to two minutes after the 5 p.m. deadline on Aug. 5.
“When you’re late, you're late,” Commissioner Julie Glancey said during a 2½ hour hearing at which the panel voted 5-1 against West. “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."
WISN-TV in Milwaukee captured footage of Republican lawyer Lane Ruhland dropping off West’s petitions just seconds after the deadline. As nitpicky as this ruling may be, West may want to think twice about challenging this ruling, because there were problems with his petitions that were far more fundamental than missing the deadline. According to a challenge filed by the state Democratic Party, several of West’s canvassers lied about their addresses, deceived people into signing, and turned in petitions with obviously fake names. As a result, all but a fraction of the signatures on West’s petitions could have been struck down.
Earlier today, Kanye got more bad news. He won’t be on the ballot in Ohio because of discrepancies in his paperwork.
The Ohio secretary of state's office determined the signature and information on West's nominating petition and statement of candidacy did not match the documents actually used for petitions signed by voters.
“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," Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a news release. "There is no doubt that the West nominating petition and declaration of candidacy failed to meet the necessary threshold for certification.”
West submitted petitions with over 14,800 signatures earlier this month, more than double the requirement of 5,000 signatures. But if I’m reading this right, it’s all for naught because the signatures on his petitions don’t match the signatures on the nominating petition he filed with the secretary of state. And West can’t complain about partisanship here. LaRose is a Republican, and a simon-pure conservative one at that.
So with these developments, West will not be on the ballot in enough swing states to even potentially tip them away from Biden. Simply put, someone needs to tell Kanye that his campaign is finished.
