Name: Police called after Kanye West signature gatherers were aggressive with poll workers
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Police called after Kanye West signature gatherers were aggressive with poll workers

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Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisPolice called after Kanye West signature gatherers were aggressive with poll workersShare thisLaramie County law enforcement was called to polling places and the county clerk there fielded more than a half-dozen reports Tuesday of staffers for Kanye West and another independent candidate acting aggressively and apparently violating state law at nearly every polling location in the capital county.The Laramie County clerk said that there were repeated reports of signature gatherers for West and fellow independent candidate Brock Pierce being too close to polling stations across the county and that the staffers were aggressively pursuing voters. Clerk Debra Lee said her office fielded multiple calls from six of the county’s seven locations, including one in Pine Bluffs, population 1,100. In some cases, Lee said, the signature gatherers were combative with poll workers after they told the staffers they needed to move away.On Monday, West filed paperwork to officially begin the process of joining the ballot in Wyoming. Within 24 hours, his staff had reportedly broken electioneering laws in at least two Wyoming cities — Cheyenne and Casper, where the county clerk’s office received two reports of signature gatherers being too close to polling locations. By state law, no one can gather signatures within 100 yards of a polling place. Lee said the staffers for West and Pierce were standing near doors and approaching voters in their cars. Messages sent Tuesday afternoon to a West representative and to the Pierce campaign were not returned.Lee also said that law enforcement was called to polling sites and that they issued citations to some petition gatherers who acted aggressively toward poll workers. Messages sent to Cheyenne and Laramie County law enforcement were not returned Tuesday.“They didn’t take too kindly to us informing them of the Wyoming statute and the need to remove themselves,” she said.In one case, Lee said that signature gatherers set up a sign “very close to our vote center” that directed registered voters to sign in, misleading people into believing that signing the petition was part of the primary election process. The sign also had West’s name on it, according to The Associated Press.That mirrors describing how one woman in Wisconsin added her name to a petition for West after she was told the paper she was signing was needed to register her to vote.“That created the perception that the first stop was their table before you went in,” Lee noted.“They were very determined,” she said of the campaign staffers. She said she didn’t know which of the behavior could be attributed to West’s staff or Pierce’s. But she added petition gatherers for both were frequently in the same location and engaged in similar tactics.Problems with West’s supporters weren’t isolated to Cheyenne. In Evansville on Tuesday, a signature gatherer stood right next to the door of the polling center. He asked voters on their way in and out of the location if they wanted to help President Donald Trump and hurt Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by putting West on the ballot.It’s unclear how adding West’s name to the ballot in Wyoming, where Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016, would help the president. National polls also show West has only 2% support.Secretary of State spokesman Will Dinneen told the Star-Tribune on Wednesday that the state had not received any official complaints but that it was aware of reports in Natrona and Laramie counties of West’s staff breaking electioneering laws. He said that that every election cycle, be it primary or general, “there are always reports of electioneering near polling places.”Lee said that West and Pierce were both paying their signature gatherers as much as $2 per signature. A West staffer in Wisconsin told a voter that he was being paid $1 per signature. It’s not illegal to pay workers to gather signatures, and it’s not required that campaigns disclose that they’re doing so.“It would certainly be an incentive to get as many as you could as fast as you could,” Lee said.West has just one week to gather the 4,025 signatures he’ll need to get on the ballot here. Dinneen said that would be a tight turnaround for the rapper, who lives on a ranch outside of Cody and whose quixotic campaign has drawn criticism for being backed by Republican operatives and for submitting dubious signatures. West’s bid is also broadly considered to be an effort to hurt Biden rather than a legitimate run for the White House; in a conversation with a Forbes journalist, West acknowledged that he was “walking” for president and he didn’t deny that he was seeking to damage Biden.So far, West’s fortunes on the campaign trail have been mixed. Because of his campaign’s late start, he missed deadlines to appear on the ballot in several key states. He’s been thrown off the ballot in New Jersey, and he faces a stiff challenge in Wisconsin, where critics say his petition was signed by Mickey Mouse, Bernie Sanders and West himself — twice.He has successfully petitioned to be listed on the ballot in Iowa, Colorado and Oklahoma; other states are reviewing his application.Dinneen said that there’s no timeline for the state to review and certify — or toss out — West’s application after the filing deadline next week. He said the deadline for that decision is essentially when the state must begin coding and printing ballots. He said that there would be a mechanism for West to appeal any decision to keep him off of the ballot, though Dinneen added there won’t be much time for West to successfully challenge a state ruling against him.Evan McMullin, a Republican who launched a doomed independent bid against Trump four years ago, operated under a similar timeline as West in 2016, when McMullin was trying to get on the ballot here. Dinneen said that McMullin did turn in his petition on time, but the state rejected it because a number of his signatories had signed other petitions, which at that time was illegal. That law has since been changed.Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Kanye West performs in April 2019 at the Coachella Music &amp; Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. West is attempting to get enough signatures to be put on Wyoming's ballot as a presidential candidate.Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, in her Cheynne office on Tuesday, stands next to a sign she said officials confiscated that day from a person collecting signatures for rapper Kanye West to get on the presidential ballot in Wyoming. The person was breaking the law by electioneering too close to a polling place on primary election day, Lee said.{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisPolice called after Kanye West signature gatherers were aggressive with poll workersShare thisLaramie County law enforcement was called to polling places and the...

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