Electoral college dropout: Kanye West fails to meet requirements for Ohio presidential ballot

It looks like keeping up with the Kardashians won’t require a White House press pass.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Friday, Aug. 21 that hip hop superstar Kanye West would not qualify for the presidential ballot in Ohio due to disparities between his original nominating petition and statement of candidacy and the petition and statement circulated for signing. This determination comes on the heels of similar disqualifications in Montana, Illinois, and New Jersey.

“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,” said LaRose. “There is no doubt that the West nominating petition and declaration of candidacy failed to meet the necessary threshold for certification.”

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West is running for president as an independent under the “Birthday Party” alongside his running mate, Wyoming biblical life coach Michelle Tidball. West announced his candidacy via tweet July 4.

West’s campaign filed the paperwork to get on Ohio’s presidential ballot for the Nov. 3 presidential election just one hour and 40 minutes before the deadline Aug. 5. Over 6,000 of the 14,886 signatures West’s campaign submitted have since been ruled invalid, although this was not what disqualified him from the ballot. The primary issue lies with discrepancies between the forms submitted to the state and what registered Ohio voters were asked to sign.

Qualifying for the presidential ballot has been an ongoing struggle for West’s campaign. In both Illinois and Montana, less than half of the signatures submitted in his petition were deemed valid by state officials. In New Jersey, West’s campaign withdrew his bid after similar questions were raised by an election lawyer about the validity of signatures. In Wisconsin, West missed the filing deadline by under a minute.

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