Attorney General Mark Herring has filed a response opposing entertainment mogul Kanye West’s motion for a stay pending appeal regarding West’s effort to be included on the presidential ballot for the November election.
In the brief, Herring argues that time is of the essence in this case because of ballot printing deadlines, noting that attorneys for West “did not appeal for five days and did not seek to stay for six days,” and within that time period “all of the ballots that have been finalized since the circuit court’s decision have omitted petition West’s name from the list of eligible candidates.”
The response also notes that as of Thursday morning, all 133 of the Commonwealth’s localities have started the ballot-production process.
The original goal for finalizing the ballot was Sept. 4, nearly a week ago.
A day earlier, on Sept. 3, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Joi J. Taylor granted a temporary injunction in a suit that sought to have West removed from the Virginia presidential ballot, after finding that elector oaths submitted on behalf of West “were obtained by improper, fraudulent and/or misleading means, or are otherwise invalid because of notarial violations and misconduct, and, therefore, do not count toward the statutorily required minimum to qualify the petition.”
Attorneys for West filed a motion for expedited consideration on Wednesday.
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