Cornel West speaks at the National Press Club February 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that rejected independent candidate Cornel West’s petition to appear on the November ballot.
The one-page, unsigned order affirms the Aug. 23 ruling by the Commonwealth Court, which agreed with the Department of State’s determination that 14 of the West campaign’s 19 presidential electors failed to submit the affidavits required for minor-party presidential electors by the Aug. 1 deadline.
The West campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the Capital-Star.
The Supreme Court decision cleared the way for counties to begin printing and sending out mail ballots, and Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt on Monday certified the official list of candidates on the ballot.
“Counties can now prepare their ballots to be printed, then begin sending mail ballots to voters who have requested one as soon as they are printed,” Schmidt said in a statement.