Kanye West Forges Ahead With US Presidential Bid in Kentucky, Mississippi

By M.G. Alison. First Posted: Sep 05, 2020 01:54 AM EDT

Kanye West is forging ahead with his U.S. presidential bid as he continues to file for his name to be placed on the ballots in Kentucky and Mississippi.

The rapper is filing a slot in these two states' ballots as an independent candidate.

Interestingly, West has loaned $6.7 million for his presidential bid campaign, as stated on the Federal Election Commission's campaign finance report, according to a report by the TMZ.

West has paid the $2,500 fee to the office of the Mississippi Secretary of State, where he has submitted documents for his name to be printed on the ballots.

The rapper needs about 1,000 signatures from registered voters of the state to earn a slot on the Mississippi ballots.

According to Y'all Politics, West submitted a total of 1,219 signatures that need to be validated first. His petition in Mississippi will be reviewed on Sept. 8 by the State Board of Election Commissioners manned by Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Secretary Michael Watson, and Governor Tate Reeves.

In Kentucky, West would need about 5,000 valid signatures. He has submitted 19,000 petition signatures.

In terms of electoral votes, Kentucky has eight, while Mississippi has six. The U.S. presidency is won by electoral college votes and not by popular votes.

According to the Latin Post, West has already secured his ballot slots in Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Vermont, Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma.

West has announced his bid for the U.S. presidency in July and has taken preacher Michelle Tidball of Wyoming as his running mate.

However, West failed to get his name unto the ballots in Wyoming even though he owns a ranch there and his running mate being from there.

West has been accused of being a "nuisance" candidate by the Democrats as he had previously pledged his support for President Donald Trump, who is bidding for a second term in the White House.

According to pundits, West's candidacy is the Republican's tactic to take away votes from Democrat presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.

The GOP or the Republican Party allegedly assists the rapper's campaign, and some Republican operatives have been helping him get on the ballots.

Nevertheless, West failed to get his name on the ballots in Wisconsin, where Trump won in 2016.

A recently released national poll also pointed to West not having the support of the entire Black community.

Democratic pollster Terrance Woodbury said that West would be able to get enough votes to win the presidency. However, what West can do is to get enough votes to determine who between Trump or Biden will win in the November elections.

West has a long way to go as he had already missed out having his name on 30 states ballots after failing to make the deadline in 25 of those states.

In other states, his petition was denied for not submitting the required number of valid signatures.