Eight Arizona Legislators Introduce Bill for Presidential Candidates to Prove Eligibility

Ballot Access News ^ | January 23rd, 2009 | Richard Winger

[CalifScreaming]

Eight Arizona legislators have introduced SB 1158, to require presidential candidates at the general election to submit “documents that prove that the candidate is a natural born citizen.” Since “natural born citizen” is not defined in the bill, nor in the U.S. Constitution, one wonders which documents John McCain would have been required to produce in 2008, if this bill had been law. He was born either in Panama or in the Canal Zone.

The bill also requires presidential candidates to submit documents that prove they meet the residency requirement. The Constitution requires presidents to have lived in the United States for the preceding 14 years. Finally, the bill requires presidential candidates to prove their age. The bill applies to independent presidential candidates, and to the presidential nominees of qualified parties. For party nominees, the bill requires the “national political party committee” to be responsible for obtaining the documents from its presidential candidate. The bill also applies to candidates for vice-president.

The bill’s lead sponsors are Senator Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) and Representative Judy Burges (R-Skull Valley). The other sponsors are Senators Pamela Gorman (R-Anthem), Ron Gould (R-Lake Havasu City), Chuck Gray (R-Mesa), Jack Harper (R-Surprise), Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert), and Representative Carl Seel (R-Phoenix).

[canaan]

“A Natural Born Citizen is a Person Born in the United States or a Territory of the United States or a Person that is Born of American Parentage on Foreign Soil.”

I don’t think this would be specific enough. What if that latter child and her/his parents lived overseas from the birth of the child until the child was 25? That child’s entire developmental years would have been spent an ocean away from America’s culture. What allegiance might that child have? What if the parents/child later switched to the citizenship of that other country?

The time in which the child of American parents (and it would need to be specified if one or both need to be citizens of America) is born and lives in the foreign country would have to be a mandated short time, I would think. In other words, born there out of necessity.

[trumandogz]

That would have to be legislated and there is no one in DC that would propose such legislation.

[curiosity]

There's nothing to the birther claims about Obama, but I think this is a good bill.

At the very least, it will make it more difficult to spin birther conspiracy theories in the future.

[curiosity]

It’s not like there was anything to that certifiGate scandal. The only people who followed that were tinfoil hat conpsiracists.

That's true. However, a bill like this will likely put the kabosh on such conspiracy theorizing in the future, which IMHO makes it worthwhile.

[BrerLion]

There's nothing to the birther claims about Obama

"There you go again..."

[Kevmo]

That’s true.
***Looks like you don’t know what a sarcasm tag means.