A Michigan judge on Saturday overruled a decision to keep independent presidential candidate Cornel West off the ballot in that state.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford ordered the Michigan Bureau of Elections to qualify West and his running mate for the ballot if they show they have obtained the correct number of valid signatures.
Michigan’s secretary of state and the director of the Bureau of Elections “misapplied the law in finding otherwise," he wrote in his opinion.
The director of the Bureau of Elections notified West's campaign earlier in the month that he was disqualified for the ballot because of “defects in the notarization” of his affidavit of identity (AOI), but Redford said the AOIs filed “cannot serve as a mechanism to exclude them from the ballot.”
West celebrated the ruling, saying,
This ruling is not just a legal victory—it is a moral victory for everyone who believes in the sanctity of the democratic process. Our campaign submitted over 26,000 signatures, significantly more than required, which the court recognized as a legitimate expression of the people’s will.
“We are grateful for this affirmation and promise to continue championing the rights of all voters,” he added.
He announced in June that he had enough signatures to get on the ballot, and has since also qualified in Maine and other states.
West is currently polling around 1% of the vote, but some state races in 2020 were decided by less than that margin.
Michigan is a swing state that could have a very close finish in 2024.
The state and Rosa Holliday are filing appeals in the case.
West is a far-left activist whose candidacy is more likely to hurt Vice President Kamala Harris than former President Donald Trump.
Democrats have a 4-3 majority on the court, which shouldn't, but might, help to determine whether Redford's ruling will stand.
The ballot will be down one candidate after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said last week he was suspending his candidacy to support Trump.
While Trump had a decent lead nationally against President Joe Biden, Biden's exit from the race and the insertion of Harris have tightened it to something of a dead heat at the moment.
