Lawsuit seeks to ban Kanye West from Arizona ballot

An Arizona resident has asked a judge to bar Kanye West from showing up over the state’s Nov. 3 ballot, accusing the hiphop artist of serving as an election spoiler and arguing that a law prohibits him from working in the state as an unbiased presidential candidate.

West’s lawyer about Wednesday reported filing just under 58,000 signatures, more than the roughly 39,000 required for independent candidates to help make the ballot.

Lawyers for resident Rasean Clayton said found in a good lawsuit filed Monday that independent presidential applicants can appear on Arizona’s ballot if indeed they aren’t registered with an established political party and gather enough voter signatures to nominate them. But Clayton’s legal professionals say West, who paid out top dollar to dozens of personnel gathering petition signatures in Arizona, isn’t qualified to be on the ballot because he’s a registered Republican.

Also if West is available to have submitted enough signatures, the lawsuit stated the hiphop artist’s late-in-the-game candidacy would make no difference to his chances of winning the race.

“West will never be able to be eligible for the ballot in enough states to muster enough electoral votes to prevail,” Clayton’s legal representatives wrote. “West’s minimal fascination in playing a good spoiler candidate on Arizona’s ballot isn't enough to outweigh the factors favoring emergency relief.”

West has already qualified to seem on the ballot in several states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee and Utah.

The rapper and music producer announced his intention to perform for president on July 4.

A Maricopa County judge is scheduled to listen to arguments in the legal challenge on Thursday afternoon.

Attorney Tim LaSota, who represents West found in the Arizona problem, described the lawsuit as a “last-ditch work on the eve of the (signature filing deadline) to deprive voters of a choice.”

LaSota brushed aside criticism that West is trying to become a spoiler targeted at hurting Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s chances in Arizona. “That’s just political hyperbole,” LaSota said. “I don’t need to get into the politics of it. But definitely I think there is a lot to be performed by someone else running for president.”

Clayton’s attorneys said the lawsuit should be resolved quickly for the reason that deadline pertaining to Arizona’s ballots to come to be printed is on Sept. 8 and 9.

In a statement, Clayton described himself as a Navy veteran who cares about the November election.

“I filed this circumstance because I don’t want people to get confused voting on ballots which may have disqualified persons listed with everybody else who followed the law,” Clayton said.

It’s unclear if Clayton has any connections to the Arizona Democratic Party, which didn’t return a call Wednesday seeking comment.