Kanye West’s presidential candidacy in Wisconsin is under review

Wisconsin Elections Commission will review signatures and forms
Published: Aug. 5, 2020 at 6:31 PM CDT
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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Rapper Kanye West has received enough signatures for his name to appear on a Wisconsin ballot, but nothing is official just yet.

West has declared his candidacy and filed his papers, however now the Wisconsin Elections Commission will review all of West's forms and information. According to University of Wisconsin-Madison Political Science Professor Barry Burden it will take at least a few days until anything is official.

"It's possible for people to challenge the signature, the individual signatures not being legitimate or being signed more than once, or maybe one of the circulators not being eligible to circulate the petitions, that's a pretty standard part of the process," Burden said.

And if West is officially added to the ballot, political scientists say it will likely shake things up.

“I suspect that Kanye West will draw supporters from the Biden camp and the Trump camp. He’s likely to have appeal among the younger voters, and they are mostly in Biden’s camp at this point, they are mostly Democratic voters, so that might hurt Biden in the general election,” Burden said. “But he’s also going to appeal to non-traditional voters who want a non-traditional candidate from outside the political system that has a very different way of operating. And those were voters who were attracted to Trump four years ago and may have become disenchanted with him during his time in Washington. West is also likely to draw some new voters out who may not have participated.

West has already filed for candidacy in at least four other states. Burden expects that number will increase come Labor Day.

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