In a close race this could make a difference. We know for a fact that the difference in several decisive swing states in 2016 was the third party vote.:
At least four people who have been active in Republican politics are linked to Kanye West’s attempt to get on the presidential ballot this year. The connection raises questions about the aims of the entertainer’s effort and whether it is regarded within the G.O.P. as a spoiler campaign that could aid President Trump, even as those close to Mr. West have expressed concerns about his mental health as he enters the political arena.
One operative, Mark Jacoby, is an executive at a company called Let the Voters Decide, which has been collecting signatures for the West campaign in three states. Mr. Jacoby was arrested on voter fraud charges in 2008 while he was doing work for the California Republican Party, and he later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Mr. Jacoby, in a statement, said his company was nonpartisan and worked for all political parties. “We do not comment on any current clients, but like all Americans, anyone who is qualified to stand for election has the right to run,” he said.
New York Magazine reported Monday evening on the campaign’s links to two other people with partisan ties. One is Gregg Keller, the former executive director of the American Conservative Union, who has been listed as a contact for the campaign in Arkansas. Mr. Keller, who did not respond to a message seeking comment, is a Missouri-based strategist. He was under consideration to be Mr. Trump’s campaign manager in 2015, a role that was ultimately filled by Corey Lewandowski, according to a former campaign official.
Another person linked to the West campaign is Chuck Wilton, who is listed as a convention delegate for Mr. Trump from Vermont and as an elector with the West operation who could potentially cast an Electoral College vote for Mr. West. Mr. Wilton could not be reached. He and his wife, Wendy, a Trump appointee at the United States Department of Agriculture, have been political supporters of the president. She hung up immediately when called at her office.
Late Tuesday, a local reporter in Madison, Wis., recorded a woman dropping off ballot signatures for Mr. West. A report in Vice identified the woman as a Republican elections lawyer, Lane Ruhland. Ms. Ruhland worked for the Republican National Committee during the 2016 presidential election recount in Wisconsin. She did not return requests for comment, and a spokesman for the law firm where she works, Husch Blackwell, did not have an immediate comment.
“It appears that the Kanye West made a smart decision by hiring an experienced election attorney,” said Alesha Guenther, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin state Republican Party. “We welcome Kanye West and all other candidates who qualified for ballot access to the race.”
The nature of the financial relationships between the West campaign and the operatives, if any, was not immediately clear.
Mr. West was until recently a fervent supporter of Mr. Trump and said they shared a “dragon energy,” but he declared early last month that he would run for president himself. A few days later, Mr. Trump retweeted a post that said Mr. West could siphon votes from Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has clinched the Democratic nomination. “That shouldn’t be hard,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Corrupt Joe has done nothing good for Black people!”
This is gross exploitation of a mentally ill person. All we can do is hope that there are very few voters who will be fooled by what’s going on.
Frankly, I’m more worried about this:
Hey, for all we know they’re working with Kanye too.