Kanye West booted from Illinois ballot

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The Illinois State Board of Elections has booted rapper Kanye West from the November ballot, ending his presidential run in the state after finding petitions he submitted last month did not contain the minimum number of signatures needed to appear.

West needed at least 2,500 signatures from registered Illinois voters to get his name on the ballot; the board said West filed only 1,200 signatures.

The rapper, who was raised in Chicago, jumped into the presidential race late. He filed petitions to appear as an independent candidate minutes before the deadline in July, a move that was part of a scramble to qualify for ballot status in states with different requirements.

West filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on July 16. That filing, as well as his Illinois petitions, lists an address in Cody, Wyoming, that West bought last year, according to the Cody Enterprise.

The petitions contained 412 traditional paper sheets with original signatures, said Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Since West filed as an independent, he was required to turn in at least 2,500 signatures, 10% of the 25,000 signatures normally needed to appear on the ballot because of the pandemic.