Noticably absent from any report I’ve read is just what level of proof would be considered sufficient. The bill as proposed would apparently give each secretary of state the authority to decide whether or not the existing proof is sufficient.
This smacks of state nullification, and almost certainly violates the Fourteenth Amendment by denying citizens the right to vote for a candidate in a federal election. This is… stupid.
*no, not the federal secretary of state; the secretary of state of each state government.
This is not news. States are free to use any system they want to populate their ballots and run their elections. They may appoint their Electors in any manner they choose, as long as they don’t run afoul of constitutional rights, such as the right of women to vote (if they choose to have popular elections at all), or the ban on poll taxes.
All that matters in the end, of course, is the vote of the Electoral College, and the certification of same by Congress. And that has and always been the under exclusive purview of the federal government. A candidate need only convince Congress that he meets the requirements for candidacy, and the Electors to vote for him.
As friedo said, most states already have some system for determining who’s on the ballot. Hundreds of people may be attempting to run for President in the same election.
A proof of citizenship test is no big deal. It probably would have helped Obama’s campaign in 2008. Rumors are hard to fight but an actual legal standard would have officially confirmed that he is a natural-born citizen.
Everybody who thinks that Obama is not a US citizen, US born, that this might possibly be a good idea, or that it isn’t about racism are screaming idiots.
Except that Obama showed his birth certificate, the same exact one he would show to the Arizona Secretary of State (assuming the law doesn’t get thrown out.) and there are still idiots screaming about him not being born in the US. It isn’t a matter of showing proof. There is no amount of proof that he can show most birthers, they would just claim it was faked or not what they meant.
Presumably this is the 26th time Arizona has proposed this, since the next election cycle will mark the 26th in which Arizonans have been able to vote? It would be too much of a coincidence if this was the first time, and also the first time one of those people was running for reelection.
I disagree. If Obama had a chance to face the accusation squarely in court he would win. If fifty different secretaries of state, Democrats and Republican, all stated that Barack Hussein Obama has produced valid evidence that he is a natural-born American citizen, then it would have demolished the birther movement.
Sure there would be a few diehards who would never accept the truth. But the birthers would be like the people who believe Barack Obama is a lizard man from outer space - so far out on the fringe they don’t matter anymore.
Except he has shown valid evidence that he was born in the USA. You can still see pictures of it online. It has been looked at by news organizations, certified by the Republican governor and the Secretary of State of Hawaii, and was good enough for the Federal government for Obama to get a passport. And none of that is good enough. And there is no way it can be. The majority of birthers are either already out there with the lizard believers or are just racist, looking for any reason they can to declare him illegitimate.
Isn’t all optimism adorable? Like a little puppy with big eyes, looking up at you. Until it gets ran over by the freight train of reality.
Heck, even that would be a better use of his time. Once he starts jumping through hoops, it’ll never end. Anyone determined to believe chicanery will just claim each level of authority who supports the president is in on it.
Good point. It probably doesn’t, at least textually.
In the event that this bill proceeds successfully through the AZ senate, and is signed into law by the governor, do you anticipate it being successfully challenged?
If so, what do you think would be the prevailing argument against it?
Do you, personally, feel that this is a wise action for the Arizona legislature to take? Were you an Arizona state legislator, would you support this bill?
