Illinois voters won’t see rapper Kanye West listed on their ballot as a presidential candidate, Politico reports.
The music star was short 1,300 qualified signatures required to make the ballot in his home state, according to a decision made by the Board of Elections on Friday.
The decision on whether to put West’s name on the ballot was made without debate, according to Politico.
When the board got to the rapper’s case, the panel approved a hearing officer’s determination that there weren't enough signatures.
Sean Tenner, a Chicago ward committeeperson, was part of a group of Democrats who challenged West’s petitions.
According to Politico, challengers were opposed and insulted by comments West made about Harriet Tubman. West said she “never actually freed the slaves.”
West was short signatures even though a federal judge reduced the number of signatures candidates had to obtain to make the state’s ballot, in light of the coronavirus.
Typically, independent presidential candidates need to collect 25,000 signatures. Amid the pandemic, a federal judge in Illinois cut the number needed to qualify down to 2,500.
But the Illinois Election Board affirmed a staff report that stated West had only collected 1,200 valid signatures.
Illinois isn’t the only state where West didn't make the ballot. The state of Wisconsin ruled Thursday that the rapper’s attorneys submitted petition signatures too late to get on the ballot.
West has qualified to appear on ballots in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah and Vermont. He said he plans to urge voters in states where he is not on the ballot to write him in for president.
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