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NATIONWIDE — Kanye West’s presidential campaign has been dogged by lawsuits – both from the candidate himself and those voting in the upcoming election –since the rapper announced his bid for the presidency on July 4.

Running as an Independent, the controversial singer soon announced self-described “biblical life” coach Michelle Tidball as his running mate (despite making it obvious in an interview that Jay-Z was his first choice) and began petitioning to get on ballots nationwide. 

Although West is registered as a Republican and a previous vocal supporter of President Trump (he told Forbes in July he no longer supports the president), many Democrats have grown increasingly concerned that the rapper will actually take votes away from former Vice President Joe Biden – with some even alleging the president’s aides have been helping West get on the ballot. 

The Trump campaign denies any allegations of working with the rapper. 

“We have no idea what Kanye West is doing or who is helping him do it,” Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said in late August. 

As the election draws nearer, West and his campaign still have many hurdles to cross if he wants to be a serious contender for President come November. Just this week, West was removed or barred from two states’ ballots.  

West’s unorthodox presidential campaign was dealt two successive blows on Thursday when judges in both Virginia and Arizona barred the rapper from appearing on the states’ respective ballots. 

In Virginia, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi Taylor ruled that 11 of the 13 “Elector Oaths” submitted by the West campaign were “obtained by improper, fraudulent and/or misleading means.”

Under the state’s law, presidential candidates running as an Independant are required to present a minimum of 13 electors who pledge to support the candidate in order to be certified by the Virginia State Board of Electors. The board certified West’s campaign last week, but were soon met with a lawsuit on behalf of two people who said they were “tricked” into signing on to support the rapper. 

One plaintiff, Matthan Wilson, said he was approached by a representative for West’s campaign and was told he would “be entered into a pool to be individually picked to be part of the Electoral College.” Only after he was contacted by members of the media did Wilson learn the document he signed actually locked him in as one of Kanye’s 13 pledged electors. 

“Kanye West’s name was never mentioned,” Wilson said of his original interaction with the representative in a signed affidavit. 

Later the same day, an Arizona judge also ruled that West would not appear on the state’s ballot come November. The decision came in response to plaintiff Rasean Clayton’s lawsuit alleging West’s candidacy would cause irreparable harm in the presidential election, which was filed earlier this week. 

Clayton’s suit argued that under Arizona law, a presidential candidate can file as an Independent only if they are not registered under another recognized political party. West, who filed as an Independent, is registered as a Republican.  

Judge Scott McCoy ruled on Thursday that Clayton “established that the relative hardships favor him,” and removed West from the ballot. 

West’s attorneys said they will appeal the ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court. Tim LaSota, an attorney representing West, had no immediate comment Thursday evening.

While West has qualified for the ballot in states including Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee and Utah, the rapper did not meet the qualifications in Ohio, Montana, West Virginia, Wisconsin and several others. West and his campaign have filed several lawsuits in an attempt to stay on or get on the ballots. 

In late August, the media mogul sued the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office after being told his bid to get on the ballot for president came up short on qualified signatures.

Secretary of State Mac Warner’s office told news outlets last month that West needed 7,144 signatures from registered voters in West Virginia. West submitted 15,000 signatures, but only 6,383 were confirmed, according to Secretary of State spokesperson Mike Queen.

The lawsuit says West did not have a chance to challenge that decision before a drawing for order of names appearing on the ballot, WSAZ-TV reported. The lawsuit requests an emergency hearing date and a ruling that would allow his name to be listed.

Days earlier, Kanye filed a suit in Wisconsin demanding election officials place him on the state’s presidential ballot in November.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that West’s campaign filed the lawsuit in Brown County Circuit Court.

The state Elections Commission decided last week that West missed the 5 p.m. deadline for filing his nomination signatures by anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes on Aug. 4.

West’s lawsuit argues that the deadline did not expire until 5:01 p.m. and regardless of the timing, commission staffers still accepted the papers. The lawsuit went on to allege that commission staff should have unlocked the building’s doors at 4:30 to accommodate late-arriving filers.

A federal judge will decide in the upcoming days whether to take up the case. Michael Curran, the attorney representing West’s campaign in Wisconsin, told Spectrum News the campaign has no comment on the matter.

In Ohio, West is suing to get his name on the ballot after his original application was rejected due to “substantive and fatal defect(s),” according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. 

West made an emergency filing against LaRose days after the election’s chief rejected the nearly 15,000 signatures and other paperwork the rapper submitted earlier this month in an attempt to run for president, citing mismatched information on the signature-gathering documents.

It is undeniable that West’s campaign was unusual from the very start. After announcing his candidacy via Twitter, the rapper has opted not to participate in any conventional campaign appearances, instead communicating with potential voters via social media and sporadic interviews. 

But the 43-year-old’s first official campaign appearance in South Carolina back in July sparked concern for the rapper’s mental health after he divulged intimate details about his wife, Kim Kardashian West, before breaking into tears. 

Soon after, Kardashian-West issued a public statement where she acknowledged her husband’s bipolar diagnosis and urged people to practice kindness. 

“Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times (sic) do not align with his intentions,” the media personality wrote in a message on her Instagram stories. 

Aside from his unusual campaigning style, some election officials are concerned that several West-allied organizations appear to be spreading misinformation about Democratic candidate Joe Biden. 

Common Sense Voters of America LLC, an Ohio-based PAC that was registered in June by the same law firm representing West’s bid to get on the ballot in the state, recently sent mailers to voters in Pennsylvania and Minnesota that contained misinformation about Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris. 

In screenshots of the mailers obtained by CNN, Biden can be seen holding a Politico newspaper with the headline “Biden Supports Sanctuary Cities.” 

An editor for Politico soon tweeted that the headline had never been printed in any edition of Politico’s newspaper.

In light of the many lawsuits still circulating in state courts nationwide, it is clear that Kanye West faces an uphill battle in the months before the November election. 

Spectrum News has reached out to representatives for Kanye West for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.