Kanye West may face election fraud inquiry over invalid signatures

The Wisconsin Democrats have filed a complaint to prevent Kanye West from appearing on the presidential ballot in his home state in November. The complaint claims his campaign was late to submit the nomination papers and ended up filing bogus signatures including that of 'Mickey Mouse' and ‘Bernie Sanders’, reported Daily Mail.

The state’s Democratic Party has challenged to block the rapper from running as a third party candidate on Friday, citing numerous issues with his paperwork – including incorrect addresses for circulators and fake signatures. Affidavits from six individuals who said they were duped into putting their names on West’s paperwork have also have also been attached with the lodged complaint. West also allegedly didn't list his residence accurately.

“If the affidavits are true, crimes were committed by the West campaign,' the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted attorney Michael Maistelman – who gathered the affidavits – as saying.

The illegible signatures included two 'Kanye West', a 'Mickey Mouse' and 'Bernie Sanders' all listed at the Milwaukee addresses. Several regulator addresses were also allegedly bogus as one circulator said he lived in an Illinois area zoned for industrial use only and a second listed a residence in California where he supposedly hasn't lived in years, the complaint added.  

Furthermore, a woman named Cheryl Pernell of Milwaukee County in her complaint said that someone approached her in a Walmart parking lot asking if she was registered to vote. That person then asked her to sign a document to confirm her registration, and that document was then used for West’s ballot.

“If I had known that, I wouldn't have signed the papers,” said Pernell. “Kanye West would not get my vote and I think it’s a joke that he is running for president,' she added in the affidavit. 

Whereas another plaintiff, Wanda Thompson, said in her affidavit that she signed the petition only after the circulator said he got paid $1 per name. “If he hadn't told me he was getting paid per signature, I would never have signed this nomination paper,” Thompson claimed. 

The complaint will now be reviewed after which a recommendation on West’s nomination papers will be submitted to the bipartisan board. But the list doesn’t end there. Milwaukee’s bank attorney, Joseph Santeler has reiterated the same points as the Democratic Party against the Stronger singer.

“I'm not going to comment on the filing, but thank you for calling,” the outlet quoted Santeler as saying. “Wisconsin election laws provide (West) over a month to collect and submit nomination papers, and his failure to do so within the time prescribed in the statute is fatal to his attempted filing,” Santeler wrote in his challenge. 

The neighbouring state, Illinois, had also made an initial determination that West did not file enough signatures to land on the ballot in his home state. Turns out the Chicago native fell short by 1,300 signatures, according to a state hearing officer who reviewed the nominations submitted by West's party. 

West requires at least 2,000 valid signatures to make it on the ballot.

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