As Polarik and other have brought up, I think the
chances are also fair that there is NO original birth certificate on file. Although the Hawaii Dept of Health (DOH) surely has internal procedures to "recognize" people as citizens when this happens, it would be damaging to Obama as the public would demand further investigation.
Notice how the wording changed in 9 months, both from carefully-worded prepared statements.
On Oct 31, 2008, DOH director Fukino said she had "...personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures."
On July 28, 2009, she said she had "seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen." An index card pointing to a non-existent birth certificate is part of a "vital record".
It's important to note that Fukino semantically picks the phrase "natural-born American citizen" instead of "natural-born citizen". Abercrombie wouldn't even go so far on July 27, NOT using the word "citizen" of Hawaii, and certainly NOT "natural-born citizen" in H.R. 593, only "Whereas the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii...")
If you ask a native trying to get land through the Dept of Hawaiian Home Lands office, they will tell you the DOH is notorious for LOSING originals. In the book, "In the name of Hawaiians" by Rona Tamiko Halualani, the author interviews many Hawaiians who voice frustration with the Hawaiian Health Office and the DHHL for sloppy record keeping of Vital Statistics. Here's an excerpt:
” chances are also fair that there is NO original birth certificate on file.”
Any theories on what “ birth certificate “ Obama claims he saw hidden in his grandmother’s paperwork when he was a teen ager ?
Dreams From My Father, page 22.
If he found a Kenyan BC or something shocking on a legitimate US BC ,
that could that have been the genesis of his teen age downward spiral into cocaine, pot, alcohol and school truancy.
“...the author interviews many Hawaiians who voice frustration with the Hawaiian Health Office and the DHHL for sloppy record keeping of Vital Statistics. “
Great research.
I think of Hawaii 50 years ago ( when they were just organizing as a state ) as a tropical frontier.
Even today, tourists are told that Hawaii is on island time , it does things in it’s own way.
The federal and state bureaucracies on the mainland that have been in existence for over 200 years are often times a mess.
It is highly likely that the state govt of Hawaii was stumbling and fumbling it’s way into the new era of statehood ,
without today’s technology and organizational framework and oversight.
Disorganization and record keeping chaos had to be part of the equation fifty years ago.