But tens of thousands of signatures have been gathered on behalf of the famed left-wing academic in key states thanks to self-organized grassroots volunteers — and some help from outside operatives tied to a Republican consulting firm.
In North Carolina, for example, a prominent Republican activist was spotted in April outside a Trump rally gathering signatures for West, telling rallygoers it “helps take away votes from Joe Biden.”
But internal emails obtained by NBC News, social media posts and other evidence suggest someone from the outside — though it’s unclear who or how much, if anything, they spent — was trying to help West get on the ballot in North Carolina, even if his grassroots allies were not fully aware of it.
Emails from elections officials, obtained through a request under North Carolina’s Public Records Law, show the pro-West Justice for All Party authorized three people to pick up and drop off signatures for them statewide — and all three are current or past employees of a Colorado-based Republican political firm called Blitz Canvassing.
Separately, a high-profile Republican activist who focuses on early voting was spotted gathering signatures for West outside a planned rally for former Trump in April in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Stein said West has refused to discuss the issue with her and explain why he left the Green Party, adding that he’s a “political novice” and that it was “hard to give him advice” about the mechanics of ballot access and running a campaign.
The original article contains 1,720 words, the summary contains 244 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But tens of thousands of signatures have been gathered on behalf of the famed left-wing academic in key states thanks to self-organized grassroots volunteers — and some help from outside operatives tied to a Republican consulting firm.
In North Carolina, for example, a prominent Republican activist was spotted in April outside a Trump rally gathering signatures for West, telling rallygoers it “helps take away votes from Joe Biden.”
But internal emails obtained by NBC News, social media posts and other evidence suggest someone from the outside — though it’s unclear who or how much, if anything, they spent — was trying to help West get on the ballot in North Carolina, even if his grassroots allies were not fully aware of it.
Emails from elections officials, obtained through a request under North Carolina’s Public Records Law, show the pro-West Justice for All Party authorized three people to pick up and drop off signatures for them statewide — and all three are current or past employees of a Colorado-based Republican political firm called Blitz Canvassing.
Separately, a high-profile Republican activist who focuses on early voting was spotted gathering signatures for West outside a planned rally for former Trump in April in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Stein said West has refused to discuss the issue with her and explain why he left the Green Party, adding that he’s a “political novice” and that it was “hard to give him advice” about the mechanics of ballot access and running a campaign.
The original article contains 1,720 words, the summary contains 244 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!