CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Illinois Board of Elections has finalized the November 3 ballot and there is one name that will not be on it.
Rap artist and aspiring presidential candidate Kanye West, a Chicago native, was kicked off Illinois' Nov. 3 presidential ballot, the Illinois State Board of Elections ruled Friday.
The Illinois State Board of Elections voted unanimously, 8 to 0, to remove West from the ballot, after he failed to submit enough petition signatures to qualify for the race, the Chicago Tribune reported.
West's campaign can appeal the election board's ruling in court.
The Wisconsin Election Commission also voted Thursday to remove West from the November ballot after they say he missed the deadline to file the necessary paperwork.
The WEC decided in a 5-1 vote to keep Kanye and running mate Michelle Tidball off the ballot, after missing the 5 p.m. deadline on Aug. 5 to submit the required 2,000 Wisconsin voter signatures to get on the ballot..
The Associated Press reported, West campaign attorney, Michael Curran, argued during a hearing before the commission that West campaign workers didn't enter the commission's building until 14 seconds after 5 p.m. on Aug. 5, but commission staff still accepted the papers, constituting a timely filing.
Commissioner Robert Spindell, a Republican, pushed the panel to give West the benefit of the doubt. He also argued that Democrats are unfairly trying to keep a Black candidate off the ballot and the commission should give Black voters a choice.
"We are talking a matter of seconds here," Spindell said.
But the rest of the commission said common sense dictates that 5 p.m. is 5 p.m., not 5:00:14.
In the end the commission voted 5-1 to keep Kanye and running mate Michelle Tidball off the ballot. Spindell was the only commissioner who voted to put them on.
While West will not appear on Illinois or Wisconsin's ballot this fall, he will be listed on several other ballots such as Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, Vermont, Missouri and Arkansas.
