Kanye West Gets 60,000 Votes In U.S. Presidential Race

UPDATED with latest: After a night of ballot counting, Kanye West passed 60,000 votes in the race for the presidency of the United States. West was on the ballot in 12 states. His exact count, as of 10:30 a.m. PT Wednesday, was 60,761.

Most of the states in question were above 90% counted, with the notable exceptions of Colorado, Utah, Mississippi and Vermont. Those were all above 70% counted.

Kanye’s updated state-by-state breakdown is as follows, according to the AP:

Arkansas: 4,040
Colorado: 6,254
Idaho: 3,631
Iowa: 3,202
Kentucky: 6,259
Louisiana: 4,894
Minnesota: 7,789
Mississippi: 3,277
Oklahoma: 5,590
Tennessee: 10,216
Utah: 4,344
Vermont: 1,265

Election Day 2020: Deadline’s Complete Coverage

PREVIOUSLY, Tuesday, midnight PT: While the TV networks were laser-focused on the race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, a good number of social media users were focused on another candidate: Kanye West.

West’s name was trending on Twitter after the hip-hop superstar made a series of posts to his account chronicling what he said was the first time he had ever voted in his life. Kanye being Kanye, he cast his ballot for himself, of course.

God is so good 😊 Today I am voting for the first time in my life for the President of the United States, and it's for someone I truly trust…me. 🇺🇸 🕊

— ye (@kanyewest) November 3, 2020

It’s safe to say at least 60,000 Americans voted for West, who ran as an Independent. While a few states were still under 80% reported as of this writing, our count puts him at 59,781 total votes. Thus, it’s a pretty good guess he’ll go over 60,000 by the time all states are fully counted.

Election Day 2020: Deadline’s Complete Coverage

West’s biggest haul was in Tennessee, where he garnered 10,188 votes. While the rap mogul did rank 4th in some state races, his percentage of the vote was never more than .04%.

About the time that Joe Biden made his election night speech, Kanye tweeted what seemed to be both a concession and an announcement writing, “Welp Kanye 2024.”

WELP KANYE 2024 🕊 pic.twitter.com/tJOZcxdArb

— ye (@kanyewest) November 4, 2020

West personally voted in Wyoming where, according to The New York Times, he has a ranch and spends much of his time. A video he posted to social media shows he wrote in his own name on the ballot there. The vote will not accrue to West unless he files additional paperwork, however.

KEEP BELIEVING KANYE 2020 Thank you Jesus Christ pic.twitter.com/OgFDGOCAOp

— ye (@kanyewest) November 3, 2020

Wyoming secretary of state spokeswoman Monique Meese told MarketWatch that the state counts such ballots as generic write-in votes unless the candidate wins or unless they file paperwork and pay a fee to the state. According to Meese, there had been no such filing as of late Tuesday.

Candidate Kanye was on the ballot in a dozen states, however.

Here is how he fared in each, with vote counts according to the Associated Press:

Arkansas: 4040
Colorado: 6,127
Idaho: 3092
Iowa: 3,197
Kentucky: 6,259
Louisiana: 4,894
Minnesota: 7654
Mississippi: 3,117
Oklahoma: 5,590
Tennessee: 10,195
Utah: 4,311
Vermont: 1,255

According to MarketWatch, West asked voters to write in his name in California. But West reportedly again missed the filing deadline to be a write-in candidate in in the state.

Bizarrely, the American Independent Party put him on the ballot as its vice presidential candidate in California —- without consulting Kanye.

According to a Federal Election Commission filing, West raised $11.5 million through mid-October. About $10.3 million of that, however, were loans made by the candidate to his own campaign.