Wisconsin Commission Keeps Cornel West on Ballot

The Wisconsin Elections Commission decided Tuesday to keep Cornel West, an independent presidential candidate, on the state ballot, dismissing a challenge by a Democratic National Committee employee. The commission also removed independent Shiva Ayyadurai, citing the constitutional requirement for presidential candidates to be natural-born US citizens. Ayyadurai, who moved to the US at age seven and became a citizen at 20, did not contest his Indian birthplace but argued the commission lacked authority to disqualify him without discussion.

The ballot will feature eight candidates, including third-party and independent candidates like Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who attempted to withdraw his name in a letter dated Friday but remained unchallenged. His request to be struck from the ballot was not discussed. The inclusion of third-party candidates in Wisconsin—a battleground state where recent elections have been decided by narrow margins—could significantly influence electoral outcomes.

The news comes one day after the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Democrats' efforts to remove Stein from the ballot. In 2016 she ended up with 31,000 votes in the state, outpacing the 23,000 votes that Donald Trump took Wisconsin by. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)