Kanye West becomes official presidential candidate in New Jersey

Kanye West will appear on the ballot in New Jersey. Photo / AP

Kanye West has filed to appear as a presidential candidate on the New Jersey ballot.

The 43-year-old rapper announced his intent to run for president earlier this month, but he had already missed the deadline to appear on the ballot in several states, and after hosting his first campaign rally in North Carolina, he failed to garner enough votes to appear on the ballot in the state.

However, according to state documents obtained by TMZ, Kanye has successfully collected 1327 signatures from residents of New Jersey, surpassing the 800 required by the deadline on Monday and making him an official candidate for voters come the November election.

At the same time, Kanye also submitted paperwork to appear on Missouri's ballot, and is eyeing to do the same in New York, where he will need 30,000 signatures by Thursday.

The Bound 2 hitmaker tweeted his desire to run for president on July 4, and held his first campaign rally a few weeks later, where he broke down in tears during a conversation about abortion, as he confessed he and his wife Kim Kardashian West had considered terminating their first pregnancy.

Days later, Kanye launched a scathing rant against his 39-year-old spouse on social media, in which he accused her of "trying to lock him up" over concerns for his mental health.

Kanye West will appear on the ballot in New Jersey. Photo / AP

The Yeezy founder also claimed he had been trying to divorce Kim - with whom he has North, seven, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and Psalm, 14 months - for two years, after she met with fellow rapper Meek Mill at a hotel.

Kanye tweeted: "I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf for 'prison reform' (sic)"

Kim and Meek both spoke at the Criminal Justice Reform Summit in Los Angeles in 2018, and although Kanye remains fond of the rapper, he said Kim was "out of line".

He wrote on the micro-blogging platform: "Meek is my man and was respectful. That's my dog Kim was out of line I'm worth 5 billion dollars and more than that through Christ But ya'll ain't listen to MJ and now y'all believe them??? [sic]"

Since his outbursts, Kanye has apologised publicly to the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star.

He tweeted: "I would like to apologise to my wife Kim for going public with something that was a private matter. I did not cover her like she has covered me. To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you. Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me."