Independent presidential candidate Cornel West will not be on the November ballot in Michigan, a key swing state, due to issues related to notary errors, state election officials confirmed on Friday. According to the state’s director of elections, West’s ballot access was denied due to improper notarization in his filing documents. Additionally, West faced a separate lawsuit from a local activist claiming that his petition did not have enough valid signatures.
The decision to bar West from the Michigan ballot could impact the tight race in the state, where Democrats have already expressed concerns about his potential to draw left-leaning voters away from the Democratic nominee. Despite the setback, West’s campaign intends to appeal the ruling, although Michigan law does not allow for a revised petition to be submitted after the filing deadline. According to state regulations, West’s campaign has five days to challenge the disqualification, after initially failing to respond to election officials’ notification of the challenge in July.
West’s campaign adviser, Edwin DeJesus, responded to the news by downplaying the significance of the technical errors, stating that the “notarization specifics” are trivial issues being used to distract from meaningful policy discussions. DeJesus argued that these accusations are merely attempts to stifle debate and opposition.
The Michigan elections department cited four problems with West’s affidavit of identity, a document necessary for ballot access. These issues included incomplete notarization and the placement of the notarization on the wrong page. The state’s laws do not allow candidates to correct flawed affidavits after submission, and the secretary of state’s office has a history of rejecting similar filings.
Michigan law also imposes strict deadlines for candidate-filing petitions, including the affidavit of identity, which must be submitted by 4 p.m. on the 110th day before the election. This year, that deadline was July 18.
Although West is barred from Michigan’s ballot, he has secured access in other states, including Utah, Colorado, South Carolina, and Alaska. His newly established political party, Justice for All, has also gained ballot access in North Carolina.
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West has garnered support from some left-leaning voters for his criticisms of the Biden-Harris administration, particularly regarding its stance on Israel during the Gaza conflict. In Michigan, which has the largest Arab American and Muslim population in the country, West might have found a receptive audience. However, recent polling shows that West has struggled to gain significant traction. In a poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College from August 5 to 9, no Michigan voters expressed plans to vote for West. Meanwhile, other independent candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Green Party’s Jill Stein received modest support.
