SPRINGFIELD, Ill. _ Chicago native and world-famous rapper Kanye West filed petitions this week to appear as an independent presidential candidate on the Illinois ballot in November.
West's campaign filed 412 sheets with the Illinois Board of Elections on Monday, minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline, in an effort to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. Objectors have until 5 p.m. Monday to challenge petitions filed by new party and independent candidates, including West, and none will be guaranteed a spot on the November ballot until it's certified by the elections board on Aug. 21, spokesman Matt Dietrich said.
"It happens quite often that these new party and independent candidates face challenges," Dietrich said.
Due to the pandemic, the signature threshold for independent and new party candidates need to meet in order to be eligible for the ballot is significantly lower than it would otherwise be _ 2,500 signatures of registered voters in Illinois. West listed an address in Cody, Wyoming, on his filing petitions.
West held his first campaign rally in his bid for the White House in South Carolina on Sunday night, but did not submit the petition signatures he would have needed to get on that state's presidential ballot by its Monday deadline. He announced he was making a bid for the White House this year on July 4.
