Democrats want Kanye West bounced from Wisconsin 2020 ballot after he ‘faked MICKEY MOUSE and BERNIE SANDERS signatures’
STATE Democrats have filed a complaint against Kanye West’s presidential ballot submission in Wisconsin.
The complaint was filed Friday saying his campaign was late in submitting its signatures, and that it contained fake signatures, including “Bernie Sanders”, “Mickey Mouse”, and two signed under “Kanye West”.
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The challenge also suggests lots of other issues with Mr West’s nomination papers, including incorrect addresses for circulators and affidavits from six individuals who said they were duped into putting their names on West’s paperwork.
West’s attorney is believed to have missed the 5pm Tuesday deadline by only a few minutes however, making it a point of contention.
Attorney Michael Maistelman, who gathered the affidavits for the state Democratic Party said: “If the affidavits are true … crimes were committed by the West campaign”, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
A message sent to the email account listed on West’s Federal Election Commission filing also bounced back as undeliverable, according to USA Today.
The complaint will be reviewed by the Elections Commission, who will make a recommendation to the bipartisan board that is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans.
West needs to submit at least 2,000 valid signatures to make it onto the ballot. His campain provided more than 2,400 to state regulators.
A second similar challenge was filed by Milwaukee bank attorney Joseph Santeler.
It states: “Wisconsin election laws provide [West] over a month to collect and submit nomination papers, and his failure to do so within the time prescribed in the statute is fatal to his attempted filing.”
The challenges in Wisconsin came the same day Illinois made an initial determination that West had not filed enough signatures to get on the ballot in that state, according to WTTW-TV.
The deadline for filing challenges was Friday, August 7.
Democrats are concerned a West candidacy could pull votes from Biden before his likely showdown against Trump in November.
One Wisconsin Republican source told USA Today that the goal is for West to get 107,000 votes there, roughly the same as Libertarian Gary Johnson did in 2016.
The Democratic Party’s complaint found a number of technical errors with the nomination papers.
Allegedly bogus signatures were listed as Milwaukee addresses, including Sanders, who is the senator for Vermont.
Several of the circulators also gave false addresses on the nomination papers, according to the complaint. One said he lived in an area in Illinois that is zoned for industrial use only, while another listed a California residence where he hasn’t lived in years.
As for the affidavits, six individuals said they did not know they were signing nomination papers to get on the ballot.
Cheryl Pernell of Milwaukee County said she was asked to sign the document outside a Walmart.
The circulator told her that her signature was needed to make sure she was registered to vote. She learned only later that she had put her name on West’s nomination papers.
“If I had known that, I wouldn’t have signed the papers, absolutely not,” Pernell said in her affidavit.
“Kanye West would not get my vote and I think it is a joke that he is running for president.”
Another Milwaukee resident, Wanda Thompson, said in her affidavit that she signed the petition only after the circulator said he got paid $1 per name.
“If he hadn’t told me he was getting paid per signature, I would never have signed this nomination paper,” Thompson said.
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Of West’s 10 electors, at least five have strong ties to the state GOP or are ardent Trump supporters.
Mr West jetted off to the Dominican Republic with his wife Kim Kardashian over the weekend “in the hopes of saving their marriage” following a dramatic few weeks.
His campaign got off to a remarkably emotional start July 18 when he broke down in tears during his first campaign event in North Charleston, SC.
