# Arizona official may keep Obama off the ballot **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 19, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398 "2012-05-19T05:06:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/101 "2012-05-25T03:15:33Z")
_sigh_ The SoS of Arizona might be satisfied, but [Arpaio still ain’t giving up.](http://www.azfamily.com/news/Arpaio-not-giving-up-on-Obama-birth-certificate-investigation-153343145.html) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/102 "2012-05-25T13:51:20Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I don’t think the chief election official in a state should also be co-chair of Romney’s campaign committee in that state. Seriously. I can’t imagine a more blatant conflict of interest. How is that legal? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/103 "2012-05-25T15:30:27Z")
Since Katherine Harris set the precedent. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/104 "2012-05-25T16:41:07Z")
Whoah. I never realized she was Bush’s campaign chair. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/105 "2012-05-25T17:34:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Whoah. I never realized she was Bush’s campaign chair. [And definitely a willing and conscious conspirator in the crime.](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Voter_roll_purge_in_the_2000_Florida_election) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/106 "2012-07-18T02:07:36Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > _sigh_ The SoS of Arizona might be satisfied, but [Arpaio still ain’t giving up.](http://www.azfamily.com/news/Arpaio-not-giving-up-on-Obama-birth-certificate-investigation-153343145.html) :rolleyes: In fact, [Arpaio just announced that Obama’s birth certificate is definitely a forgery.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/joe-arpaio-birther-probe-_n_1681428.html) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/107 "2012-07-18T02:39:27Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > In fact, [Arpaio just announced that Obama’s birth certificate is definitely a forgery.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/joe-arpaio-birther-probe-_n_1681428.html) He’s discovered that [maybe nobody at all was ever born in Hawaii](http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/17/20120717arpaio-obama-birth-certificate-issue-needs-further-investigation.html): > [@](#): > > The team also turned up information it said raised concerns about whether anyone claiming to be from Hawaii was actually born there ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/108 "2012-07-18T03:11:25Z")
You know, if Hawaii is actually part of Kenya… ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/109 "2012-07-18T15:23:18Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > He’s discovered that [maybe nobody at all was ever born in Hawaii](http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/17/20120717arpaio-obama-birth-certificate-issue-needs-further-investigation.html): Uh, I can’t find that quote anywhere in the article you linked to. Can you point it out, please? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/110 "2012-07-18T17:05:16Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Uh, I can’t find that quote anywhere in the article you linked to. Can you point it out, please? I believe it is this: > [@](#): > > The team also discovered information that they said caused concern about Hawaii’s lax standards for verifying where children are born or where their parents live. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/111 "2012-07-18T17:08:45Z")
I saw that, but the box seemed to imply that that exact quote was in the article, and I was dying to find out how the logic went, especially since it goes a LOT further than the actual quote in the article. I was disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/112 "2012-07-18T17:15:40Z")
Off-topic but in defense of my hometown, Arpaio is in the annual Christmas parade each year and each year there is a deafening boo and a barrage of inappropriate language hurled towards him as he rolls by, smug and awful as awful can be. It doesn’t matter where I am in the crowd, it’s the same reaction. And only part of all of that vitriol is coming from me. :mad: Last year I even saw a young kid yell, “You suck, Arpaio!” It is a literal mystery to me how he keeps getting reelected. So embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/113 "2012-07-18T17:17:54Z")
> [@malkavia](#): > > It is a literal mystery to me how he keeps getting reelected. Hmmm . . . perhaps there should be a posse formed to conduct an investigation. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/114 "2012-07-18T17:23:54Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Hmmm . . . perhaps there should be a posse formed to conduct an investigation. I like the cut of your jib. This really should be done. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/115 "2012-09-13T23:09:06Z")
[Kansas, now.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/obama-birther-kansas_n_1880957.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012) > [@](#): > > Kansas officials plan to hold a hearing Thursday afternoon to weigh whether President Barack Obama is a citizen and should appear on the state’s November ballot. > > The Kansas Objections Board will be considering a challenge filed by Joe Montgomery, a Manhattan resident, who Monday objected to Obama being on the ballot. He claims the president is not an American citizen since his father was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Kenya. The all-Republican board – which consists of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and Attorney General Derek Schmidt – has the power to remove Obama from the ballot in his mother’s home state. > > Montgomery, the communications coordinator for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, said in his filing that he does not believe Obama meets the criteria for citizenship because of his father’s citizenship. He cites several Supreme Court rulings in the filing, which he says validate his argument. In the filing, Montgomery said that the rulings show a “natural born citizen” is a person born of two American citizens. Update on the above: [Even after today’s hearing, the board “wants more information.”](http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/sep/13/state-panel-wants-more-information-ruling-obamas-b/) > [@](#): > > The president released a copy of his long-form birth certificate last year, and Hawaii officials have verified his citizenship repeatedly. > > But the Kansas board — made up of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer — said Thursday it wants certified documents from Hawaii and two other states where similar questions about Obama’s citizenship have been raised. > > The board plans to meet again Monday and may rule then. Even though those “certified documents” would have **nothing to do** with the legal/constitutional theory before them, which is based on Obama’s **father’s** nationality. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/116 "2012-09-13T23:14:25Z")
Maybe Kansas has a vellum shortage. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/117 "2012-09-13T23:31:34Z")
I can’t help thinking this could somehow benefit Obama and the Democrats. He’s not going to win Kansas anyway (and almost certainly not Arizona either, unless this turns into a huge landslide). But can you imagine the backlash if they somehow kept him off the ballot? Edited to add: I consider Obama actually being kept off any state’s ballot to be incredibly unlikely, though. But even just the fact that they’re trying makes them look pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/118 "2012-09-14T04:48:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You know, if Hawaii is actually part of Kenya… Well there is the fringe legal theory that the US never legally annexed Hawai’i back in 1898 (since it was done with a joint resolution instead of treaty between the Republic of Hawai’i & the US). ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/119 "2012-09-14T13:04:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Maybe Kansas has a vellum shortage. More like an oxygen shortage. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398/120 "2012-09-15T20:25:14Z")
[Goodness, how delicious!](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/14/1131926/-The-White-House-Tells-Kansas-Prove-U-S-Membership-or-Risk-Removal-from-Electoral-College) 😃 > [@](#): > > Joe Montgomery, who filed the ballot challenge that is now being pursued by Kansas, said, “there is substantial evidence showing that much of Mr. Obama’s alleged birth certificates have been forged or doctored, and have not been confirmed as legally valid, true and accurate.” > > In response, White House press secretary Jay Carney told Jake Tapper, who broached the topic at an afternoon presser: > > > [@](#): > > > > There is substantial evidence that the State of Kansas itself is forged or doctored. > > > > Just look at the borders: the state’s almost perfectly rectangular right smack in the middle of the country. It’s almost as if those lines have been completely made up. > > > > And the name. Kansas? Isn’t there already an Arkansas? Doesn’t sound true and accurate to me. > > The White House also released a statement indicating that the Justice Department is now looking into whether or not Kansas has defrauded the United States all these years. > > “If we find that Kansas was not actually born in the U.S., and is not actually an original member state but a fraud, we will be forced to remove it from the electoral college,” the statement read. > > Officials are waiting for Kansas to prove its membership by delivering to the White House verified copies of its original constitution, as well as proof that the rock band Kansas was named after the state, and not after the Kansa Native American tribe (which formerly inhabited the area). > > So far, Kansas officials have yet to produce the required documents. > > “We’ll see what happens,” Vice President Joe Biden, who submitted the petition questioning Kansas’s legality, told ABC News. “Me? I’m not holding my breath.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-official-may-keep-obama-off-the-ballot/622398.md?page=7)