CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Rapper Kanye West is taking legal action against Secretary of State Mac Warner as the musician tries to be a listed presidential candidate in the state.
West on Monday filed a request for an injunction to stop ballots for the general election from being printed without his name.
The action, filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia, came 10 days after the Secretary of State’s Office ruled West would not be placed because his campaign failed to submit enough valid signatures.
Bowles Rice LLP in Charleston is representing West.
West submitted more than 14,000 signatures to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office on Aug. 3. Officials on Aug. 21 announced 6,383 signatures of registered West Virginia voters were verifiable, short of the required 7,144 signatures.
The office determined 7,482 legible signatures were invalid; people either listed the wrong information about their voter registration or wrote their names without being eligible to vote in West Virginia.
Most of the signatures came from Kanawha and Monongalia counties, including 6,327 unverified signatures.
West’s legal counsel argues the timing of the decision did not provide West with enough time to challenge the decision; the Secretary of State’s Office continued with the required ballot placement drawing on Aug. 25, four days after its decision on the campaign.
“Plaintiff has been deprived of any ability to cure any alleged defects in his certification nomination paperwork and deprived of any chance to be heard or appeal the decision made by the West Virginia Secretary of State prior to the statutorily required drawing for order of names appearing on the General Election ballot,” the attorneys wrote.
West’s lawyers additionally mentioned the coronavirus pandemic and the related limitations on gathering signatures in West Virginia.
The legal counsel requested an emergency briefing so West and running mate Michelle Ballard could be listed.
“Absent such relief, Plaintiff will continue to incur irreparable injury because his name will not appear on the November 3, 2020 General Election ballot, and qualified voters will be deprived of their fundamental rights to cast their votes effectively,” the attorneys said.
Warner said during an appearance on “MetroNews Talkline” he is confident election officials correctly reviewed the campaign’s petitions.
“He’s certainly welcome to file the lawsuit,” Warner said of West. “We’ll certainly see what the judges say and what the remedy would be, but I’m confident that our clerks did their jobs properly and I’m confident that state law will be upheld.”
Judge Irene Berger will preside over the case.
West, who listed a Wyoming address on his candidate’s certificate, is already on the ballot as an independent candidate in multiple states, although not enough to win the 270 electoral votes necessary to become president.