Kanye West fails to make ballot in Missouri, Wyoming

Rapper Kanye West has failed to make the ballot in Missouri and Wyoming, election officials announced Tuesday. 

Missouri Secretary of State John Ashcroft (R) said that West only turned in 6,557 valid signatures out of the 10,000 required to make the ballot as an independent candidate.

Today our office issued a letter to Kanye West informing him of the insufficiency of his independent candidate nomination petition for President. The petition was determined to have 6,557 valid signatures of the required 10,000. pic.twitter.com/vxOSk8WCD3

— Missouri SOS Office (@MissouriSOS) August 25, 2020

In Wyoming, West missed the Monday deadline to turn in the 4,025 required signatures needed to appear as an independent candidate. A Wyoming Secretary of State spokesperson told the Casper Star Tribune that cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce “submitted signatures for verification. Mr. Kanye West did not.”

West reportedly attempted to gather signatures in Wyoming starting on Aug. 17, often doing so near polling locations during the state’s primary this month, which is illegal. 

Wyoming election officials did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Hill.

West has reportedly been receiving support from Republican operatives through the petitioning company Let the Voters Decide, which is led by Mark Jacoby, who was arrested on charges of voter fraud while working in California for the Republican Party in 2008, The New York Times reported.

Last week, West failed to make the ballot in Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia. When West launched his campaign on July 4, he had already missed the filing deadline in a slew of states, including Texas, Michigan and Florida.

So far, West has met the requirements to get his name on the ballot in just five states: Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah and Vermont.

In a Politico-Morning Consult national poll released last week, West received 2 percent support, which was 7 points behind the 9 percent of respondents who said they have “no opinion.”