Lawsuit seeks to ban Kanye West from Arizona ballot

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
September 2, 2020

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona resident has asked a judge to bar Kanye West from appearing on Arizona’s Nov. 3 ballot, accusing the hip hop artist of serving as an election spoiler and arguing that a law prohibits him from running in the state as an independent presidential candidate.

Lawyers for Rasean Clayton said in a lawsuit filed Monday that independent presidential candidates can appear on Arizona’s ballot if they aren’t registered with a recognized political party and gather enough voter signatures to nominate them. But Clayton’s lawyers say West, who has dozens of workers gathering petition signatures in Arizona, isn’t qualified to be on the ballot because he’s a registered Republican.

Even if West were able to gather enough signatures, the lawsuit said the hip hop artist’s late-in-the-game candidacy would make no difference to his chances of winning the race.

“West will not be able to qualify for the ballot in enough states to muster enough electoral votes to prevail,” Clayton’s lawyers wrote. “West’s minimal interest in playing a spoiler candidate on Arizona’s ballot is not enough to outweigh the factors favoring emergency relief.”

-snip-

A Maricopa County judge is scheduled to hear arguments in the legal challenge on Thursday afternoon.

-snip-