WISCONSIN — In a 5-1 vote Thursday, the Wisconsin Election Commission decided that Kanye West will not be on Wisconsin ballots in November.
The decision was made after Kanye West missed a deadline when submitting nomination paperwork.
Wisconsin Election Commission staff determined Tuesday that West missed a 5 p.m. deadline on Aug. 5 which was the last day for independent presidential candidates to submit the required 2,000 signatures of Wisconsin voters to get on the ballot.
The Wisconsin Election Commission deliberated for nearly 2.5 hours when decided whether or not to include West on the ballot. The WEC says representatives for West arrived at the Madison location 14 seconds after 5 p.m. Because of the time to get from the first floor to the third floor, plus additional information required on the paperwork, the WEC determined it was at least 5:01, or later, before the filing was in their possession.
"We have people who were taken away from ballot status because they are one signature short," Julie Glancey with the WEC said. "If we hold their feet to the fire on the number of signatures, we need to hold their feet to the fire on what time it needs to be filed."
The one opposing vote came from Robert Spindell, saying there should be a bit more clarification on what a 5:00 deadline truly means.
"I don't think they were late," Spindell said. "They met requirements by being there before 5:00:59. I do not think they were late. We're talking a matter of seconds here."
Some Democrats are saying that Republicans are pushing West’s candidacy in several states to siphon votes away from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
While West won't be listed on Wisconsin ballots, he will be listed on other states' ballots such as Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Vermont.
After the vote, Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Mark Jefferson released the following statement:
“Wisconsin Democrats successfully fought to deny ballot access to an African American because he was seconds late with his paperwork, but they want to override Wisconsin law by delaying the deadline to accept absentee ballots because six weeks of ballot harvesting may not be enough for them to win. The left wants to clear any liberal competition for Democrats, while ensuring a Libertarian is on the ballot to siphon votes from Republicans. Democrats are only interested in voter enfranchisement if they believe they will benefit. If they don’t benefit, they don’t care."