Kanye West is an extremely successful American rapper, singer, songwriter, and music producer, and is also a designer. He is married to reality TV star Kim Kardashian. He is releasing a new album called ‘God’s Country’ soon. On Saturday, July 4, Kanye also tweeted the following;
“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION.”
Could this be true? Is Kanye West running for President? Nobody is really sure what he is upto. He could be, or it could be a stunt to generate some publicity for himself and his new album.
But it begs the question: Can absolutely anyone run for the Office of the President of the United States?
People have checked if Kanye has registered his name with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a body that monitors campaign finance. Essentially a campaign requires quite a lot of money. The candidate and his or her advisors and staff move around the country, talking to citizens, understanding their issues, and discussing how these concerns will be addressed. All this to win the vote. All of this is expensive, so the candidates raise money through donors (individuals and companies) who want that candidate to win the election because they feel that he or she is the one who is most closely aligned with what is important to them. The FEC keeps track of how each campaign is raising money and from whom. So it’s a quick check to see if people are serious about running for President.
Anyway, Kanye’s name is not on the FEC list, but apparently there is a registration for Kanye Deez Nutz West, at the address: ‘1977 Golddigger Avenue, Suite Yeezus!’ Catchy! But no money has been raised for this registered account.
So back to the election then. How does someone run for President? The election this year is on November 3, 2020. In India, we vote for a political party, and the political party decides which party member will be Prime Minister of the country. Here is a quick recap of how General Elections work in India. https://currentkids.in/politics/your-guide-to-the-indian-general-elections/
In America, people vote for a person to be President, and there is a different system of election. Here’s a 2 minute video that describes the process:
Got it! So what about Kanye? Hmmm… we will have to wait and see what he says next. Stay tuned!
Written by: Sunaina Murthy
