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Kanye West‘s presidential campaign has run into another obstacle as the rapping producer may not be allowed to appear on the ballot in his home state of Illinois.
It was reported last month that officials in Illinois planned to review the validity of the signatures needed to secure West’s place on the November ballot.
In order to be considered an Independent nominee, he needed to submit 2,500 written signatures from in-state voters by July 20. According to the Chicago Tribune, he filed 3,218, however 1,928 of them were ruled invalid following a state elections board review.
This preliminary check of West’s paperwork now indicates he may fall far short of the required number of signatures to appear before home-state voters on November 3.
West’s lawyers have until August 21 to defend the disputed signatures with evidence, but according to Ed Mullen, one of the lawyers challenging West’s petition, the Chicago native “is virtually certain to be kicked off the ballot.”
In my case against #KanyeWest , IL Bd of Elections records examination today finds him 1,300 valid signatures short of minimum required, meaning he is virtually certain to be kicked off ballot in IL. pic.twitter.com/g9e6DESZSb
— Ed Mullen (@edmullen3) August 7, 2020
Even if he won every single state where he could still get on the ballot, without Illinois it would be mathematically impossible for the ‘Jesus Walks’ rapper to obtain the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidential election (as per Consequence Of Sound).
Earlier this week, West seemingly backed up claims that his 2020 presidential run is actually an attempt to siphon votes away from the presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
US media reports earlier this week suggested that GOP operatives are helping to secure West’s place on the ballot in a number of states, which could potentially take votes away from Biden.
When asked about the theory in a new interview with Forbes, West said that rather than running for president, he was “walking,” adding that he was “walking . . . to win.”
West was also quizzed on the virtual impossibility of him winning the presidency as he won’t be on enough ballots to yield 270 electoral votes. He replied: “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”
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