From the Detroit News:

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West has been disqualified from the state’s ballot because of problems with the way a required document his campaign submitted was notarized, the Michigan Bureau of Elections announced Friday.

West, a longtime liberal activist, academic and author, had turned in petitions in hopes of appearing on the ballot in Michigan as an alternative to the major party candidates. But West’s affidavit of identity “was not notarized in compliance with the laws of the state where it was notarized,” which was Colorado, according to a Friday letter to West from Jonathan Brater, Michigan’s elections director.

Notaries traditionally verify documents and certify that the person signing them was in their presence as the signature was executed.

However, according to Brater’s letter, Dana L. Manning, the notary for West’s affidavit, “failed to identify what notarial act was being performed.” Plus, Manning’s notary stamp was on a separate page from the affidavit and Manning’s signature to certify the document, according to the letter.

The document also featured “unfilled blanks,” and the notary certificate failed to include Manning’s title of office, Brater wrote.