Obama Citizenship

OK Senate Panel Approves Eligibility Bill

By Phil

Via TheMcCarvilleReport, the Oklahoma State Senate Committee on Rules passed HB1329:

A bill requiring proof of citizenship for those seeking office has been approved by a Senate committee and now goes to the Senate floor for a vote.The bill, by Rep. Mike Ritze and Senator Anthony Sykes, would require candidates filing in Oklahoma to provide documentation of their citizenship.

House Bill 1329, by Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and Sykes, R-Moore, requires prospective candidates to provide a birth certificate showing U.S. citizenship, a non-birth U.S. citizenship certificate, a certificate of naturalization or a passport in order to file. U.S. presidential and vice presidential candidates would not be able to use either certificate of naturalization or passport. It would also make those documents subject to the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

To view the full status of this bill, go to Oklahoma’s Bill Status page, type in “HB1329″ (sans quotes) into the “Measure Number(s)” text field, and then click on the Retrieve command button.

The State House has already passed the bill, 72-23. According to my listing of State-based initiatives, if the Oklahoma State Senate passes this bill and the Governor subsequently signs, Oklahoma will be the first State in the Union to formally begin the process of enforcing candidate eligibility.

At the federal level, Florida Republican Rep. Bill Posey’s HR1503 has been submitted to committee for consideration.

Other States similarly considering eligibility-based legislation include the following:

• Montana (tabled)
• Arizona
• Missouri
• Texas

-Phil

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on April 05, 2009 (boomark / email).