Kanye West has qualified to appear on the presidential ballot in Oklahoma, securing a spot on the final day before the deadline passed.
The rapper and fashion designer filed the necessary paperwork on Wednesday, the state’s election board said.
It means he could appear on the ballot in at least one state during November’s US election. He would be up against President Donald Trump and the Democratic Party challenger Joe Biden.
Independent presidential candidate Kanye West has qualified for the General Election ballot in Oklahoma. (Today is Oklahoma's deadline for Independent & Unrecognized Party presidential candidates to file statements of candidacy with their petitions or filing fee.)
— Oklahoma State Election Board (@OKelections) July 15, 2020
While West has qualified for the ballot in Oklahoma, the deadline has already passed in many states, including key battlegrounds such as North Carolina and New Hampshire.
And confusion remains over his bid for the White House after New York Magazine’s Intelligencer reported West adviser Steve Kramer saying “he’s out”.
News of West’s Oklahoma development came after a political committee named Kanye 2020 filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The statement organisation form states West is the committee’s candidate in November’s election and lists his ranch in Wyoming as its address.
The FEC, the agency which enforces campaign finance law in the US, told the PA news agency it does not comment on individual cases and could not confirm if West was involved but pointed to its review policy for “filings which may be false or fictitious”.
A representative for West has been contacted for comment.
Andre Bodiford is listed as the Kanye 2020 treasurer, though there was no answer when the PA news agency called the attached phone number.
While the Kanye 2020 committee has filed the statement organisation form, also known as FEC Form 1, the next step would be filing a statement of candidacy, or FEC Form 2, the FEC said.
That is filed when an individual has raised or spent more than 5,000 dollars (about £3,900) in campaign activity, triggering candidacy status.
No record of a Kanye 2020 FEC Form 2 appears online.
West, 43, announced he was running for president on July 5. He tweeted: “We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States.”
He offered more details about his platform in an interview with Forbes magazine and said he is anti-abortion, anti-vaccination and pro-school prayer.
On July 9 West, who appears to have dropped his support for Donald Trump, urged people to register to vote and shared a video of himself doing so for the first time.