After celebrating the addition of his name to several ballots across the country, Kanye West’s presidential campaign has suffered yet another blow with less than two months left until the election. A judge in Virginia has ruled to remove the rapper’s name from the state’s presidential ballots after it was discovered a large percentage of the signatures he submitted were invalid.
According to the Associated Press, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi Taylor ruled that 11 of the 13 required oaths Kanye submitted for his presidential campaign were gotten through “fraudulent and/or misleading means.” The removal comes a week after the Virginia Board of Elections revealed Kanye submitted the required 5,000 petition signatures and 13 pledges of support from electors.
Kanye’s removal from the ballot was sparked after two of the electors — Matthan Wilson and Bryan Wright — filed a lawsuit claiming they were deceived into giving the rapper a signature for his campaign. According to Law & Crime, Wright said he was approached by someone from West’s campaign to sign to be an “elector for the state.” He later found out he signed for Kanye’s presidential campaign once a news reporter contacted him.
In addition to Virginia, Kanye was also removed from Ohio’s presidential ballot shortly after he was banned from appearing on Wisconsin’s ballot after he missed a required campaign deadline. The rapper reportedly also missed an important financial deadline for his campaign last month.
On a more positive note, Kanye was named the highest-paid male celebrity of 2020 earlier this week.