Kanye West Campaign Drives Signatures with Fake Legalization Petition

Some petition circulators seeking to add rapper Kanye West to Arizona general election ballots are saying they are collecting signatures for cannabis legalization – among other things – in an effort to dupe people into signing the petitions, Tucson.com reports.

Arizona’s actual legalization campaign had its signatures and question approved in August.

Some of the circulators are registered from out-of-state and are paid $8 per signature with bonuses for getting valid signatures over certain thresholds. Andrew Chavez, owner of Petition Partners, called the campaign “huge” and “well-funded” with “easily over 200 people.”

The campaign is also telling citizens that they are trying to get independent candidates on the ballot, but some have refused to divulge that the candidate they are petitioning for is West.

Edee Baggett, co-president of National Ballot Access, who is running the signature-gathering campaign in the state, said circulators are “not allowed” to lie to citizens about the petition.

West announced his candidacy for president of the U.S. on July 4 but has missed certain filing deadlines and was unable to collect enough valid signatures to appear on Illinois ballots, according to TMZ reports. During his first rally in July, West admitted to smoking “a little bit” the previous night.

He has also promised that, if elected, he would legalize cannabis, make it free, and release “every black man on trial for marijuana,” according to a Marijuana Moment report.