Legal News

Arizona House to Obama: No Birth Certificate, No Ballot

By Ashby Jones

Birthers rejoice! After a string of court defeats, you’ve got yourself a small but real win.

The Arizona House approved a bill Wednesday that would require presidential candidates to show his or her birth certificate in order to be on the state’s ballot.

In other words, if President Obama wants to appear on the Arizona ballot in 2012, he just might have to produce his birth certificate. Click here for the story from Fox News; here for a squib from New York magazine.

The House approved the measure on a 31-29 vote after four Republicans joined all of the Democrats in opposing it. The measure still faces a Senate vote.

It would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the Arizona ballot to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.

The White House was not amused. “This is a question that has been answered exhaustively,” White House spokesman Bill Burton told CNN. “I can’t imagine Arizona voters think their tax dollars are well served by a legislature that is less focused on their lives than in fringe right-wing radio conspiracy theories.”

“I support this measure in order to remove this as any type of issue in the future,” said Rep. Cecil Ash.

Opponents say it’s a waste of time that makes Arizona mocked by the rest of the country.

“I am ashamed that this is even a topic of discussion,” said Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

Even if the bill passes, it’s unlikely to fundamentally change the next presidential election. In 2008, Obama lost to John McCain by about nine percentage points. Arizona has only given its electoral votes to a Democrat once (1996) since 1948.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on April 22, 2010 (boomark / email).