Kayne West campaign team blames iPhone clock for late ballot entry

Donald Trump, left, and Kanye West pose for a picture in 2016 | Seth Wenig/AP

West's lawyer is now claiming that the "notoriously faulty" clock of the iPhone may be one of many reasons his campaign team missed Wisconsin's strict 5:00 p.m. ballot deadline.

Kanye West's campaign team reportedly filed his Wisconsin presidential campaign ballot 14 seconds late on August 4, preventing his name from being added to the state's presidential ballot. His campaign team and lawyer are now pushing back against Wisconsin in an attempt to get West added to the ballot.

A West campaign aide, Lane Ruhland, said that she had arrived at Wisconsin's Elections Commission office before 5:00 p.m., though the door was locked, putting her behind schedule. By the time she reached the door, it was 14 seconds after the filing deadline.

West's lawyer, Michael Curran, points that a Democratic Party staffer had timed her entrance with an iPhone video and that iPhone clocks are "notoriously faulty."

Ruhland claims that the elections specialist had not provided any official timestamp, either.

"The elections specialist did not show us a clock, timer or recording showing the time of 5:00:14, nor did the filings receive a time stamp," Ruhland said in her affidavit, highlighted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The iPhone clock isn't the only thing the West campaign is blaming, either. The campaign is hitting back at the definition of "5:00 p.m." as well.

"For the average observer, arriving before 5:01 p.m. is arriving 'not later' than 5 p.m." Curran said in the filing. "The phrase 'not later' is particularly instructive in that it indicates the presumption that the seconds from 5:00:00 to 5:00:59 are inclusive to 5 p.m. As the statute states ' 5 p.m.,' for something to be filed later than '5 p.m.' it would have to be filed at 5:01 p.m."

Separately, however, the Democratic Party points out that there are problems with West's nomination papers, including bogus signatures from "Mickey Mouse" and "Bernie Sanders." Additionally, the party's complaint includes affidavits from six people who were tricked into signing the paperwork.

The complaints will be reviewed by Wisconsin's Elections Commission staff, who will make a recommendation on West's nomination papers to the bipartisan board.