Singer Kanye West and four other independent candidates for president have filed to be on the November ballot in Wisconsin. But it's unclear if all will actually go before voters.
West is listed as representing the Birthday Party. The others are Jo Jorgensen - Libertarian Party, Howie Hawkins - Green Party, Brian Carroll - American Solidarity Party, and Kyle Kopitke - The People's Revolution.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission says representatives of the five filed signatures Tuesday, which was the state’s filing deadline for independent candidates. Commission staff will review the signatures to determine there are at least 2,000 valid ones per candidate, and see if the candidates meet all qualifications to get on the ballot.
Opponents of the potential candidates can file a challenge.
Commission spokesperson Reid Magney describes the process: "We have multiple people reviewing the signatures. If anybody wants to download copies of the signatures, they can do it from the Badger Voters website. So, the process is transparent."
Milwaukee television station WISN-TV reported that West's representative arrived at the Commission's office in Madison just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Magney says 5 p.m. was a strict deadline, but that he didn't have any more information on what happened.
“No comment” as woman enters election commission building just after 5p in Madison to drop off signatures for Kanye West pic.twitter.com/zVxePn5Fe2
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) August 4, 2020
The Republican Party of Wisconsin says it welcomes West and the other candidates to the race. National media have reported some people helping West try to get on the ballot in other states have links to the GOP, and it’s believed GOP supporters are helping West in Wisconsin.
