Much like the rapper’s role model Jesus, Kanye West’s presidential campaign appears to have risen from the dead.
Earlier this week a get-out-the-vote specialist working on behalf of the rapper claimed he had pulled out of the race, but apparently the specialist spoke too soon. It seems that while West might have missed the deadline to get on the ballot in Florida—and North Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, Indiana, Nevada, Michigan, Delaware, and South Carolina—he has managed to purchase himself a spot on the ticket in Oklahoma.
On Wednesday, West filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission. Hours later a representative for the rapper arrived at the Oklahoma Board of Elections with the proper form and a $35,000 filing fee on the last possible day for independent candidates to file to appear on the ballot. West signed his formal statement of candidacy, a necessary step for any candidate who spends at least $5,000 campaigning, on Thursday.
Going forward West will likely have a tougher time convincing other states to include him on the ballot, as most don’t simply require a check, but also thousands of voter signatures. Next up the rapper will face Illinois’s deadline, the state where he grew up, which requires him to submit 2,500 signatures by 5 p.m. on July 20. To meet this low threshold for entry, however, West could probably just release a new pair of Yeezys the day before the deadline and get enough signatures from the lines outside stores in Chicago alone.
On Friday morning the rapper also gave some insight into the grand infrastructure plans he has in store should he take the Oval Office, tweeting out an image of his face carved into Mount Rushmore.
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