AG Mark Herring Opposes Kanye West’s Motion For a Stay

See below for the latest, just received from AG Mark Herring’s office on the Kanye West situation:

Attorney General Herring has filed a response opposing Kanye West’s motion for a stay pending appeal.

In the brief, Attorney General Herring argues that time is of the essence in this case because of ballot printing deadlines but West “did not appeal for five days and did not seek to stay for six days” and within that time period “all of the ballots that have been finalized since the circuit court’s decision have omitted petition West’s name from the list of eligible candidates.”

Additionally, he highlights that, “as of the morning of Thursday, September 10, 2020, all 133 of the Commonwealth’s localities have started the ballot-production process.”

Attorney General Herring further explains that “ballots are not – and cannot be – prepared overnight. Ballot finalization is a detail-heavy and time-consuming process that involves not simply printing, but also programming, proofing, assembling, addressing, and ultimately, mailing. And here the task is further complicated by both the existence of an ongoing pandemic and en explosion in demand for absentee ballots for the November 2020 election.” Adding that “the Commonwealth Respondents have been clear throughout this litigation that ‘all…jurisdictions’ needed to ‘finalize their ballots no later than…Friday, September 4, 2020.”

I will keep you updated on any developments in this case.