There is an effort underway in Virginia to put a third-party presidential candidate on the ballot, but some of the signatures may have been collected under false pretenses.
A Northern Virginia group armed with a clipboard and petition asking people if they want to sign to “keep Donald Trump off the ballot” told News 4 they're actually collecting signatures to put Dr. Cornel West on the ballot.
West, a former Harvard professor and prominent left-leaning social commentator and political activist, announced earlier this year that he would launch the Justice for All Party and run for president.
The group collecting signatures for West did not say who mobilized the group to go to Virginia or why some of them are misleading voters about the purpose of the petition.
“It's really unfortunate and a lot of times people lie, but you can only make decisions based on what people say and you should read the whole thing,” said Precious Edmonds, who signed the petition because she believes it's an effort to keep Trump off the ballot.
The group's leaders said they would pass on the signed petition to the state Republican Party, but the party's chairman said the Virginia Republican Party had no connection to the effort and was unaware of its existence.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with the Virginia Republican Party,” Rich Anderson said. “The party rules set forth in the Virginia Republican Party plan specifically prohibit us from supporting candidates who are not nominated or endorsed Republicans.”
NBC News reported that the campaign to get West on the ballot in North Carolina is linked to activists with ties to the Republican Party.
Virginia's Democratic Party chairman says whoever is behind the petition drive in the state, the goal is clear: to turn voters away from President Joe Biden.
“Whether it's RFK Jr. or Cornel West or Jill Stein, these are summer reruns,” Susan Swecker said. “We've seen this play before. This is an attempt to hurt Joe Biden.”
In Virginia, third-party presidential candidates must gather 5,000 signatures, including at least 200 from each precinct, by noon on August 23.
News4 emailed West's campaign to see if they were coordinating with the Virginia petition drive but did not receive a response.
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