BREAKING UPDATE: "Cornel West WITHDRAWS Petitions To Get On Arizona November Ballot; Allegedly Forged Elector's Signature Likely Cause"

8/17, 5:30pm: "BREAKING UPDATE: "Cornel West WITHDRAWS Petitions To Get On Arizona November Ballot; Allegedly Forged Elector's Signature Likely Cause"

Cornel West will not be on Arizona's General Election ballot. His campaign for President indirectly blamed a Republican-linked circulating company for its last-second decision to withdraw the ten boxes of petitions they had delivered to the Arizona Secretary of State earlier in the day.

Mike McCorkle, West's Ballot Access Counsel, told State Election Director Lisa Marra that "Due to circumstances beyond the campaign's control, we cannot in good conscience authorize the filing of any further documents on the campaign's behalf, so we must withdraw from our effort to be on the state's ballot this November."

Earlier in the day, McCorkle apologized, saying "We generally try to have our act together a lot better than this."

An Associated Press article last night detailed how one of the paid petition circulators for "Wells Marketing" changed her mind about helping West get on the ballot when she read reports that Wells was a Republican-funded effort to drain votes from other candidates. However, Wells apparently listed Denisha Mitchell as one of West's 11 Arizona Electors and forged her signature on the paperwork.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE, 8/16: BREAKING: Robert F. Kennedy FILES Arizona Paperwork, Lists Same New York Residence Found To Be "Sham" Address; Says He Turned In 110,000 Signatures

The plot thickened this afternoon, as Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. turned in a purported 110,000 signatures to get on the Arizona General Election ballot, but listed a home address in New York that a judge in that state found to be a "sham" address.

While Arizona does not require a Presidential candidate to live in New York, Kennedy did sign the nomination paper attesting that the Katonah address is his "actual residence address".

The nomination paper will likely be one of the bases for filing a legal challenge to keep him off the Arizona ballot. Arizona - unlike New York - is a swing state and even though Kennedy only polls at 5% in Arizona, both major parties are wary of Kennedy tipping the balance to the other party.

Validity of the signatures will be another. Out of the "purported" 110,000 signatures turned in, 42,303 need to be considered valid.

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NEW, HISTORIC: Arizona Democrats Put Historic Electoral College Slate On November Ballot

(Update, 4:30pm: Please see below for an update on Cornel West campaign.)

Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris graduated from an HBCU. Now, word comes out that Arizona Democrats have put the historically first all-female Electoral College slate onto November's General Election ballot.

In the other major party slot, the Arizona Republicans have gone with an all-new slate since 2020.

The Chairwomen of each party have complete discretion in determining which 11 Arizonans will cast the state's Electoral College votes for the winning Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates. In recent years, both parties choose about half men and half women.

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano went bold, choosing 11 women. This is believed to be the first time any state has done that. Arizona's Politics asked for an explanation:

"There is so much on the line this election-- including a woman's right to choose what she does with her own body without government interference. Each of these women have been stewards of democratic values in Arizona and have been a part of the fight to move our state forward. We are all incredibly excited to vote for the first woman President who will restore and protect women's rights."

Here are the lists for both parties:

Democrats:

Adelita Grijalva

Amelia Flores

Constance DeLarge

Coral Evans

Dora Lisa Vasquez

Doreen Garlid

Maria Valdez

Marisol Garcia

Molly McGovern

Priya Sundareshan

Yolanda Bejarano

Republicans:

Abegal Gonzalez

Belinda Rodriguez

Dottie Lizer

Gina Swoboda

Lisa Green

Myron Lizer

Nathan C. Jackson

Robert L. Swoboda

Steven R. McEwen

Thomas W. Lewis

Trevor Smith

This is the 2nd Presidential cycle in a row that the AZGOP Chair has designated herself and her husband as Electors. Bejarano also put herself on the slate.

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In other news on how the top of Arizonans' ballot will look, Saturday is the deadline for independent candidates to file at least 42,303 valid petition signatures to get a ballot slot. As of this morning, no candidates' campaigns have set up an appointment with the Secretary of State's Office, as that office requests.

However, Arizona's Politics has viewed correspondence from the campaign for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. with the Secretary of State's. It is widely believed that they collected the necessary signatures early in 2024 and have been waiting until the deadline to turn them in. One or both major parties are likely to consider filing legal challenges to the petitions. An "independent" Super PAC made for most or all of the paid circulators.

Potential independent candidate Cornel West also had paid circulators in Arizona, although it is unclear exactly who was the original source of the money for those. There has been no correspondence from either West or the paid circulating company and the Secretary of State's.

The Libertarian and Green parties already have their candidates on Arizona's ballot.

(Update, 4:30pm: Within minutes of publishing this article, Arizona's Politics received an update from the Secretary of State's Office. Independent candidate Cornel West has JUST set up an 11am, tomorrow, to turn in their petition signatures. It appears that West's ballot access counsel was in occasional contact with Lisa Marra, Arizona State Election Director, and the appointment was set up this afternoon. While it is not clear who may challenge Kennedy petitions, it is very clear that Democrats are likely to challenge West's. )

Disclosure: This article was reported by co-founder Paul Weich. In his private time, Mr. Weich is a Democratic activist.

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