UPDATED 9/4, 4:27 p.m. ET: Kanye West's campaign is moving forward, despite suffering a string of recent blows.
According to TMZ, West's team has filed paperwork to appear on the Mississippi and Kentucky general ballots. State officials confirmed the "Birthday Party" candidate has submitted his petitions that are still under review. The Kentucky Secretary of State's Office told the outlet West had submitted 19,000 signatures, but only needs 5,000 valid signatures from registered voters.
It's unclear how many signatures West received for his Mississippi filing. The Mississippi Secretary of State's Office said officials will determine whether or not to accept his petition by Tuesday.
West has gained ballot access in Minnesota, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Vermont.
See the original story below.
Kanye West's presidential campaign continues to sink.
On Thursday, a Virginia judge ordered West's name to be removed from the state's presidential ballot, after determining his campaign used improper tactics to secure Elector Oaths. According to the Associated Press, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi Taylor ruled that 11 out of the 13 required oaths West had submitted were invalid; some of which were reportedly obtained through "fraudulent and/or misleading means."
The news comes just a week after the Virginia Board of Elections announced West had submitted the required 5,000 petition signatures and 13 pledges of support from electors. However, two of those electors—Matthan Wilson and Bryan Wright—filed a lawsuit this week claiming they were tricked into supporting West's campaign.
Per Law & Crime:
According to the complaint, Wilson was approached earlier this month by a representative from the West campaign who asked him to sign to be an “elector for the state,” saying his name “would be entered into a pool to be individually picked to be part of the Electoral College.” He only learned that the document he signed pledged him to be an elector for the West campaign after being contacted by a news reporter.
An attorney for West did not immediately respond to AP's request for comment.
The hip-hop mogul announced his long-teased presidential bid in early July, stating he was running as the "Birthday Party" candidate. Since then, West's campaign has hit road block after road block; not only has he been disqualified from a number of state ballots, he's also been accused of running a spoiler campaign that is intended to help Donald Trump's re-election.
Trump has denied any involvement in West's campaign, and claimed he was unaware of any GOP operatives who were supporting West's presidential bid.
"I get along with him very well," Trump said during a press briefing last month. "I like him, I like his wife [Kim Kardashian]... his wife recommended certain people to get out of prison. They were in prison for a long time. A long, long time. It should've never happened ... [Kim's] got a good heart, very good heart. And I like Kanye very much, but no, I have nothing to do with him getting on the ballot. We'll have to see what happens. We'll see if he gets on the ballot. But I'm not involved."
