This Arizona Daily Star story describes methods used by professional petitioners to persuade signers to sign the Kanye West independent presidential petition. The story has witnesses who say many petitioners lie to prospective signers about what the petition is for.
On August 31, Kanye West filed this brief in the Ohio Supreme Court, in his ballot access case. State ex rel West v La Rose, 2020-1044.
On August 31, the Montana Green Party nominees for congress and state office filed this reply brief in the Ninth Circuit, in Davis v Montana Democratic Party, 20-35734. It is only 18 pages and is a good read.
The American Shopping Party is ballot-qualified in Hawaii. It has until September 4 to decide whether to nominate anyone for president. Its officers are considering nominating Rocky De La Fuente for president and Kanye West for vice-president, the same ticket that the American Independent Party of California is running.
On August 31, an Arizona voter, Rasean Clayton, sued Kanye West, becasue he is circulating an independent presidential petition in Arizona and he is registered as a Republican in Wyoming. Also, all but one of his candidates for presidential elector in Arizona are registered Republicans. Clayton v West, Maricopa County Superior Court, cv2020-010553. The suit claims the candidates must be registered independents.
Arizona election law 16-341A says, “Any qualified elector who is not a registered member of a political party that is recognized pursuant to this title may be nominated as a candidate for public office” via an independent petition. It seems that West’s registration is irrelevant, because he is not a member of the Arizona Republican Party, because obviously he doesn’t live in Arizona.
As to his candidates for presidential elector, they are free to change their registration from Republican to independent on or before September 4, the date the petition is due and the date it will be submitted. The case has a status conference on September 2. It is peculiar that the plaintiff sued West and his electors, but did not sue any election official.
Many independent presidential candidates in history have been members of the Republican or Democratic Party. Republicans included Robert La Follette in 1924, and John B. Anderson in 1980. Democrats included Lyndon LaRouche, George Wallace, and Eugene McCarthy in 1968. McCarthy appeared on the Arizona November 1968 ballot as a presidential candidate, even though he was not seeking the presidency in the general election and did not ask to be put on the ballot.
