Cornel West is back on Michigan's presidential ballot, judge rules

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West must appear on the ballot in the battleground state of Michigan, a judge ruled about a week after West was disqualified.

Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford wrote in a decision released Saturday that West’s campaign submitted the proper number of signatures to qualify for the ballot and that presidential candidates are not required to file affidavits of identity. The ruling came after the Michigan Bureau of Elections informed West on Aug. 16 that he would not be certified because the affidavit of identity he submitted was not properly notarized.

Redford also rejected the state’s findings that West’s affidavit was incorrectly notarized.

West, a leftist academic, progressive activist and long-shot presidential candidate, is at the center of multiple legal and political battles as Democrats and Republicans seek to use the impacts of third-party candidates who could take support from their opponents. Republican allies in states such as Arizona have sought to keep West on the ballot amid Democratic fears he could siphon votes from Vice President Kamala Harris.

In Michigan, the state Democratic Party, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and a voter backed by a Democratic-aligned political action committee had challenged West’s candidacy.

Benson’s office plans to appeal Redford’s decision, a spokesperson said.

West’s campaign called the opinion a “decisive victory for democratic principles and voter choice.”

“We are grateful for this affirmation and promise to continue championing the rights of all voters,” West said in a statement.

The Michigan court opinion came a day after West lost a legal challenge to appear on the Pennsylvania ballot. It also came one day after third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Republican Donald Trump.