#Kanye West Bounced from Illinois Presidential Ballot Over 1.9K Invalid Signatures

Kanye West suffered a major blow in his presidential run when the election officials in his home town of Illinois declared that more than half the signatures submitted by West are invalid, against the 2500 signatures he needs to cast his ballot for the race. TMZ reports that the musician and businessman has had his name taken off the ballot, meaning he cannot run as a presidential hopeful from Illinois.

According to the report, of the 3,128 signatures that West was able to gather, 1,928 are invalid, meaning they have deemed to be from unregistered voters. This means either officials will remove Kanye West from the race on August 21, or he has the option to announce he’s withdrawing on his own.

While it is still difficult for many people to believe that Kanye West is serious about becoming president, the rapper has been making sincere attempts to be seen as a valid candidate. For one thing, he was too late to get on the ballot for the race in most other states and had to drop at least $30k in a last-ditch attempt to get on the ballot in Illinois.

Then came Kanye West’s first public rally, which caused some controversy. Aside from scolding his supporters for yelling too loudly, and threatening to evict some of them from the rally, West drew particular ire for his remarks against Harriet Tubman, the legendary civil rights activist who helped many slaves escape servitude.

“Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people.”

Naturally, people were furious to hear the statement, and that directly led some of those citizens to file 3 objections with the Illinois Board of Elections demanding that West’s list of signatures be examined more closely. The subsequent investigation is what led to the Board deciding that the majority of the signatures collected by West are invalid.

The revelation of the invalid signatures is unlikely to endear the musician to the general public. Still, West has continued determinedly with his efforts to become POTUS, frequently posting on Twitter regarding his plans for the White House, which include asking Jay-Z to be his running mate.

Interestingly, while it was earlier reported that President Trump might be displeased to see his former supporter West declaring his own presidential candidacy, the former has not had anything negative to say so far about the musician’s bid for the White House.

This has led to speculations that Trump sees West’s ambitions as a useful tool for the 2020 elections. According to rumors, certain Republican and Trump-affiliated political operatives are trying to get Kanye West onto various state ballots for November’s presidential election, with the final goal being not for him to win but to siphon votes from one of the chief contenders for the post of the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.

While West has denied the claim and declared he has every intention of winning, his run for the presidency might very well end up being a help rather than a hindrance to Trump’s own re-election bid, if, that he, he still manages to run. This news comes from TMZ.

Topics: Trump