Posted by Kanye West’s presidential aspirations continue to face challenges.
According to Newsweek, a judge in Wisconsin rejected the rapper/fashion mogul’s appeal to be added on the state’s ballot for the upcoming election. After Ye filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission to be placed on the ballot despite missing the August 4 deadline, Brown County Circut Court Judge John Zakowski ruled against Ye on Friday (September 11) for failure to be on time.
“The court believes at the time a grandfather clock rings out five times is the moment it is 5 p.m. Any time after that is precisely that: after 5 p.m.,” Zakowski said.
Ye and his lawyers argued that he was hindered by state officials who locked the building’s doors at precisely 5 p.m. and that he should have been given a bit of grace to turn in his paperwork until it was deemed officially late. However, the court replied to the argument by using the concept of midnight as an analogy, pointing out the difference between 11:59:59 p.m. and midnight.
Kanye West Has Spent Almost $6M On His Presidential Campaign
The fight isn’t over for Ye in his bid to be on enough ballots to make a dent in the election. With his late registration in Wisconsin denied, he’s now officially off ballots in nearly 30 states including his home state of Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, Montana and critical swing states such as Florida and Michigan.
On August 21, West touted that he had made the ballot in 10 states.
“Praise God …look at all the ballots we’re on ON,” he wrote on Twitter.
Praise God … look at all the ballots we’re on On ?
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Vermont
West Virginia
Colorado
Iowa
Utah
Minnesota
Tennessee
Virginia— ye (@kanyewest) August 21, 2020
Since then, Virginia has ousted West from the ballot, not because of insufficient paperwork or signatures, but rather his campaign tricking some voters into getting him on the ballot. He filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia on September 8, seeking to be on the ballot as Virginia begins in-person absentee voting on September 18.
Considering lawsuits and more to put him on the ballot, West’s fringe bid to become president has come with a bit of financial cost. The rapper-entrepreneur has reportedly spent up to $6 million for his campaign, all as he hopes to play spoiler for former Vice President Joe Biden’s aspirations of beating Donald Trump.