Kanye West is accusing the Wisconsin Democratic Party of spying on his campaign as an attempt to block him from appearing on the November ballot. West described the move as an “organized effort of harassment and intimidation” against his candidacy, according to reports.
Democrats filed a complaint with the State Election Commission on Friday alleging the rap star and late-blooming presidential contender submitted late paperwork and fake signatures last week to become eligible for the ballot, TMZ reported.
The complaint includes sworn statements from voters who claim they were tricked into signing their names, TMZ reported.
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In response, West accused Democrats of planting a private investigator to shadow his campaign workers as they fanned out to petition public support. Eventually the group was able to gather the 2,000 signatures from registered voters in the state necessary to qualify, West said.
Wisconsin is considered a critical swing state, where President Donald Trump unexpectedly won by a narrow margin in the 2016 election over Hillary Clinton.
Wisconsin elections officials now plan to review West’s legal documents and make a recommendation to a bipartisan panel about his spot on the ballot.
A former supporter of Trump, West filed his paperwork July 15 with the Federal Election Commission as an independent candidate.
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Four days later, he officially announced his bid for the White House in South Carolina, where he delivered a disquieting campaign speech in which he proposed a $1 million payout to mothers, decried abolitionist Harriet Tubman and broke into tears after revealing he once asked his wife Kim Kardashian to consider aborting their first child.
During the next few weeks, reports surfaced that Republicans around the country were helping West qualify for ballots in key states, raising suspicions he was being goaded to run by Trump allies who aim to steal support from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
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West qualified for Colorado’s presidential ballot last Thursday after the Secretary of State’s office verified that nine electors he submitted are all registered to vote in that state. One of those was Matthew Zielinski, a former Republican congressional candidate who served as an officer with a county Republican Party in suburban Denver.
West was, however, removed from the ballot in his home state of Illinois, where election officials say more than half his submitted signatures were invalid.
West also withdrew his petition for candidacy in New Jersey last week, but submitted 14,886 signatures and other paperwork to appear as a candidate on Ohio’s ballot.
West’s running mate is Michelle Tidball, a self-proclaimed “biblical life coach.” She’s from Cody, Wyoming, where West purchased a 4,500-acre ranch in September 2019.
— Information provided by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
