Birther Issue Alive Across the U.S.
February 14th, 2011 Andy Barr, Politico.com
The opening of 2011 state legislative sessions has been accompanied by a spate of birther-related bills, the clearest indication yet that the controversy surrounding President Barack Obama’s place of birth will continue to simmer throughout his reelection campaign.
Lawmakers in at least 10 states have introduced bills requiring presidential candidates to provide some form of proof that they are natural-born citizens, a ballot qualification rule designed to address widespread rumors on the right that Obama was not born in the United States.
The notion that Obama does not meet constitutional qualifications to be president has dogged him since the early stages of the 2008 race, despite his campaign’s posting online his certificate of live birth in the state of Hawaii.
The birther controversy resurfaced in recent weeks when newly elected Hawaii Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a friend of Obama’s parents, promised to investigate the issue and finally put to rest rumors that he was born in Kenya or Indonesia. Abercrombie later backtracked, citing the state’s privacy laws“The Constitution gives state legislatures plenary power to set the rules for choosing presidential electors. A state legislator, in theory, as Bush v. Gore acknowledges, could even take away the popular vote for the president and decide on the choice itself,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor and author of the respected Election Law blog.
Cleta Mitchell, a conservative election lawyer, made similar comments, arguing that “states have had latitude historically to require filing fees, signatures on petitions and other ministerial procedures — and providing a birth certificate verifying a person’s constitutional qualifications of age and citizenship seems perfectly reasonable.”
The bills vary in terms of how election officials would sign off on the ballot eligibility of presidential candidates, a process that would be triggered by a presidential campaign’s application to get on the primary ballot. Some measures, such as one in Connecticut, would require the secretary of state to view the original birth certificate, while others would require an affidavit providing documentation of a candidate’s name and place of birth.
“We don’t think the president was vetted, and it’s just that simple,” Texas GOP state Rep. Leo Berman said, adding that he doesn’t know whether Obama is “a citizen or not” but that he believes the question has not been fully examined.
Read more.
An election for President and Commander in Chief of the Military must strive to be above reproach. Our public institutions must give the public confidence that a presidential candidate has complied with the election process that is prescribed by our Constitution and laws. It is only after a presidential candidate satisfies the rules of such a process that he/she can expect members of the public, regardless of their party affiliations, to give him/her the respect that the Office of President so much deserves.
California has such a law, the SoS, Debra Bowen, did not bother to do that part of the duty of her office. She will ride free as long as the left wing losers fix the elections and run the State.
ReplyDelete