Georgia Birthers Challenge Obama's Placement On Presidential Ballot

The birther crusade continued this week in Georgia, with multiple men challenging President Obama's placement on the state's presidential ballot over lasting concerns that he is not a natural-born American citizen.

A total of five men filed complaints with the Office of the Secretary of State, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, at least two of whom cited disbelief over Obama's long-form birth certificate as a primary reason.

Two of the complainants have brought on the legal help of Mark Hatfield, an attorney and Republican state lawmaker who has more extreme beliefs about the constitutional requirements for the office of president. According to the AJC, he believes the Founding Fathers intended a stricter set of rules requiring both presidential aspirants and their parents to have been United States citizens.

Hearings for the challenges have not yet been set.

Challenges such as these are fairly commonplace -- and roundly unsuccessful -- on the state level. A coalition led by "birth queen" Orly Taitz mounted a similar anti-Obama campaign in New Hampshire and eventually was shot down by state officials, despite having the support of some Granite State lawmakers.

Obama released his long-form birth certificate earlier this year, saying that continued distractions over his eligibility were unacceptable. He was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post stated that Hatfield believed presidential candidates need to have parents born in the U.S. in order to qualify for that office. He has instead stated that the parents must both be U.S. citizens.

Comments

[annalrichard]

06:04 PM on 01/27/2012

We still have the U.S. Supreme Court...aside from that, you cannot keep a sitting President off the ballot(2nd term). Our President's birthcertificate has been viewed by those who wish to see it. What you officials in GA, are stirring up is "old hat". God will judge you on your bigotry and hatred, but don't for one iota think that you are turning any liberal into a conservative. We're too intelligent, ala, our President to fall for your "backwoodsy and brainless ways! Northerners see your kind every day!
God created all of us, evenm our President and he will make us all answer for our crimes. I feel sorry for you!

[jeffphil]

09:28 AM on 01/29/2012

Actually Obama has spent $2 million in attorney's fees preventing anyone from seeing the original birth certificate, and the digital PDF file he put on Whitehouse.gov can be opened up in photoshop to see that it has several layers and is a composite of multiple artificates that you can move around. It wouldn't be that way if it was scanned from a piece of paper without being edited. You can literally just drag entire chunks of words off of the layer.

[Stopthe liberallies]

05:12 PM on 01/30/2012

This is a Constitutional issue. The first person to bring up the birther issue was Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008.

[Tre Anthony]

12:32 PM on 01/06/2012

People fails to realize one thing about this: President Obama is backed by the United States Department of Justice, and that Agency has thousands of attorneys all over the country with unlimited resources, which means that those low-income to mid-class citizens do not stand a chance succeeding. But on a more serious note, who cares if Obama is or is not a Citizen. I suppose that if another African American runs for President that there will continue to be much debate on some theory which goes to show how much of this Country is still living in the racism days. Those days are over. And Orly Taitz is the reason this Country is still living in racism because she hate the fact that Obama, a black, well-educated young black man, is sitting in a HIGH Official position of the country. Get over Ms. Taitz. Lay your tired a** down somewhere.

[T1redOf1tAll]

02:03 PM on 01/27/2012

Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't able to run either so this really isn't a question of race. I have no idea one way or the other whether Obama is a natural born US citizen or not but it seems to me it would be very easy to squash the debate and produce a non-photoshoppped copy of a birth certificate. By not doing this Obama is basically bringing this problem on himself.

[annalrichard]

06:18 PM on 01/27/2012

His birth certificate was settled months ago. This is just something Republicans continue to harp about, because they have no one who can compete with him. I've become a hater of Republicans in the last almost four years, just watching how Republicans act toward their fellow man and how they've disrespected our President via their bigotry and hatred. I can never vote Republican ever, again! My entire family is voting Democrat this time, because Republicans have cut their throats, so often and the abuse they've heaped upon our President in his first term.

[annalrichard]

06:12 PM on 01/27/2012

Tre Anthony, I wouldn't say "days of racism are over". It just raised it's ugly head, again, when President Obama won the Presidential Election and it threw the Republicans back to the racism,
days. I am caucasian and I know and have heard everything. I voted for President Obama and will again. I hate bigotry and hatred that make up the Republican party and the jealousy they carry in their hearts because a mulatto President is far more intelligent tha anything they have! It's a sickness with Republicans, to think a white man isn't President now.

[Americanwoman55]

01:25 PM on 01/05/2012

Orly Taitz (born August 30, 1962) is an American dentist, lawyer,[7] former real estate agent,[8][9] and leading figure in the "birther" movement, which challenges whether Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen eligible to serve as President of the United States. She also promotes a number of other allegations both related and unrelated to Obama, and has initiated a number of lawsuits on behalf of the "birther" movement.
She became a US Citizen in 2002.
So she's a dentist, turned real estate agent turned lawyer.
from Wikipedia

[Colin Daniel]

10:01 PM on 01/06/2012

And she is a naturalized American citizen - go figure.

[Black Misfit]

12:55 PM on 01/05/2012

Hopefuly, it will be overturned or else thrown out.

[KenyanBorn Obama]

02:24 PM on 01/03/2012

This is it people! OBAMA IS GOING DOWN!

Georgia Judge Denies Obama’s Motion to Dismiss in Ballot Challenge: http://www.thepostemail.com/2012/01/03/georgia-judge-denies-obamas-motion-to-dismiss-in-ballot-challenge/

[Nishnabe]

01:10 PM on 01/05/2012

In your dreams. This will be swatted down like all the others. Come back and gloat after this gets kicked to the curb like all the others.

[Tre Anthony]

12:34 PM on 01/06/2012

The photo is hilarious but its stupid..Why didn't you make a mockery of the previous presidents as you are doing to Obama. Is it because of the color of his skin that you're making a mockery of him? Get a life.

[underaslanspaw]

11:07 PM on 12/27/2011

When are these birthers going to escape their bondage to hatred? I watched the video that was referenced by some of them for awhile. Then the female narrator was revealed to be a blond buxom big blue eyed cartoon character. It was slightly amusing, but hard to take seriously. The blond winking at the viewer did give me a chuckle though.

These birthers are essentially the same sort of people who have been the haters in this country throughout its history. I remember them when JFK was president.

[Brett Tiernan]

02:09 AM on 01/05/2012

I am looking forward to your reaction when obama has been found GUILTY as charged.

[Americanwoman55]

01:09 PM on 01/05/2012

of what being born in the United States. There are witnesses for heaven sakes.

[Eleventh Hour]

03:24 PM on 12/24/2011

RefreshingTaste
HP LEGEND .597 Fans
Become a fan Unfan .4 minutes ago( 3:14 PM) Four Democratic officials and political operatives have now pleaded guilty to voter fraud-rela­ted felony charges in an alleged scheme to steal a New York election.
Former Troy Democratic City Clerk William McInerney, Democratic Councilman John Brown, and Democratic political operatives Anthony Renna and Anthony DeFiglio have entered guilty pleas in the case, in which numerous signatures were allegedly forged on absentee ballots in the 2009 Working Families Party primary, the political party that was associated with the now-defunc­t community group, ACORN.
The four have pleaded guilty to one count of various charges, ranging from forgery to falsifying business records, and criminal possession of a forged instrument­.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
True, and while the Bush administration researched occurrences of voter fraud, which openly demonstrates their concern for honesty, we've seen a growth in it since the beginning of the last presidential campaining/election. The difference? The willingness of the dem-party to participate in it. Once laws begin to be belittled and disrespected, breaking them becomes far too easy. We've seen plenty of that in the last 3 years. Disregard for both our laws and our traditions has become commonplace. We've got to reestablish a RESPECT FOR HONESTY AND KEEPING OUR LAWS.

[Eleventh Hour]

03:16 PM on 12/24/2011

This adm. has made it clear that hunting sportsmen, our military and vets should all be considered pot...ential terrier..ists. If they really feel that suspicious about them, Why don't they want to insure a FAIR ELECTION? THAT'S CRUCIAL TO PROTECT US.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO KNOW ALL VOTING IS LEGITIMATE. WE SHOULD BE GUARANTEED EACH VOTE REPRESENTS AN ELIGIBLE CITIZEN. EACH SHOULD STILL BE BREATHING, TOO.

[Eleventh Hour]

03:11 PM on 12/24/2011

This leftist admin. says all our military, our vets, hunters should be considered as potential terrorists.

If they can take such liberties with something so ridiculous, why do they object to something as simple as wanting to GUARANTEE THAT ALL VOTES CAST ARE DONE SO BY LEGITIMATE AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO ARE ACTUALLY STILL LIVING?????

If you have nothing to hide, you should have no issues with providing an ID to vote. !!!!!!

[MSgtJim]

02:11 AM on 12/20/2011

For those of you like frant52 who don't understand 'birthers' let me throw a few (easily verifiable) facts your way: During the summer of 08 questions came up about a presidential candidate's eligibility under the 'natural born citizen' requirement in the Constitution. A Senate investigation was held, the candidate released all documents on his birth and afterwards the US Senate declared he was a 'natural born citizen'. His name was John McCain! The requirements he met (and agreed to by then Senator Barrack Obama) were that he was born on US soil (a US military base in Panama) to parents "both of whom were US Citizens". At this time questions were being asked about Obama's eligibility. No investigation was held and, unlike McCain, Obama refused to release any records at all. Finally, in late summer his campaign released a "Certification of Live Birth" claiming it to be his Birth Certificate. It was not, but for the next 33 months the Obama administration claimed it was. Then in April 2011, just as the questions were gaining notoriety, thanks to Donald Trump and a book proving Obama ineligible to be President was about to be published, "images" of Obama's long-form Birth Certificate, which, according to Obama administration, DID NOT EXIST the week before, were released to the media. Unfortunately for Obama dozens of document experts, including some used by Federal Law Enforcement agencies, have declared the images to be forgeries and not good ones as they don't even match each other!

[HawaiiSteve]

03:43 AM on 12/20/2011

Please provide a citation showing where the Obama Administration said the Long-form BC did not exist. As to your "experts" not one of them has ever seen the actual document. Their testimony would never hold in a court of law. Try harder next time.

[AlCu]

08:23 AM on 12/20/2011

MSgtJim, you're wrong. A) McCain did NOT release all documents, in fact he REFUSED to release his birth certificate publicly. B) The US Senate lacks the ability to declare anyone a natural born citizen. It was the opinion of the Senate only. The only body capable of settling whether McCain's Panamanian birth two years PRIOR to passage of the Canal Zone citizenship act is the Supreme Court, There are legitimate legal questions whether McCain is a natural born citizen. I would argue in FAVOR of the claim however I acknowledge that it would have to be settled by the court.

Obama, however, proved beyond doubt that he is a natural born citizen because he did do what you falsely claimed he refused to do. He released his authentic certified Hawaiian birth certificate. For you to believe it and the later photocopy of the original released in April are "forgeries" shows just how desperate the birthers are. It is impossible for them to be forgeries because the state has authenticated then PUBLICLY. Ipso facto, they are real.

[thatbrothasmoove6]

01:19 PM on 12/20/2011

See. All these facts are just confusing.

[MSgtJim]

01:44 AM on 12/22/2011

AlCu, You obviously did not read my full comment (2 parts) or fully understand what you read so I’ll try again with the primary reason Obama is NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE PRESIDENT: The definition of “natural born citizen” used by the authors of our Constitution is “a person born in a country to parents, BOTH OF WHOM ARE CITIZENS OF THAT COUNTRY!!!!!” This definition comes from a primary document used by the authors of our Constitution: Vattel’s “The Law of Nations” written in 1758. In the one on point Supreme Court case, ‘Minor v. Happersett” the Court affirmed this definition. Because Obama’s father WAS NEVER A US CITIZEN, Ipso facto, Obama has NEVER BEEN a “natural born citizen” as required by our Constitution. This is a fact whether he was born in Hawaii or not (although there is still considerable doubt there.) As for the document originally released by Obama as “his authentic certified Hawaiian birth certificate” (your quote), compare it to what Obama released in April. THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS! The first is a “Certification of Live Birth” used when Obama was born to register births that do not automatically generate a hospital birth certificate such as home births or births occurring outside the country. The document released in April appears to be an actual long-form hospital-generated birth certificate with names, addresses, occupations and signatures of all involved. Of note is to that point Obama had adamantly claimed this document DID NOT EXIST!

[frant52]

05:22 PM on 12/19/2011

I do not understand birthers. Clearly they are not able to agree on a policy difference on which to focus their energies. I have to wonder why? Are they not able to move on from this dead issue because they cannot read?

[mataylor16]

09:03 AM on 12/22/2011

If you've ever seen the movie "Trading Places" with Eddie Murphy (his best work, IMHO) remember the scene where he's in the bathroom and secretly hears a conversation between the Duke brothers about letting him run the company, you have about 90% of their raison d'etre portrayed right there.

[greysells2]

11:46 AM on 12/19/2011

The fact that someone does not "believe" the long form birth certificate is not sufficient grounds to sucessfuly challenge it in court. Courts are about "facts" not unsupported belief s. There must be some reasonable and factual basis for a claim. Otherwise, the lawsuit has no basis and would be sumamarily dismissed. I happen to believe the moon is square and if I sued NASA's public claim that the moon is round, I might find that legally the going might be a little difficult.. The claim would be dismmissed with costs and I would correctly laughed out of court. The fact that other people have the same unsupported "belief" means nothing other than more than one person is stupid or reality challenged. Legal issues are not tested by counting noses on either side of an issue.

[Americanwoman55]

01:17 PM on 01/05/2012

thank you.

[AlCu]

06:26 PM on 12/18/2011

It's noteworthy to recall that, in point of fact, Obama is the first and only US presidential candidate in our entire history to actually document his natural-born citizenship through releasing his birth certificate before the election, which he did in 2008. No other candidate had even been asked to produce one before the black guy. I wonder why they keep questioning his citizenship?

[EmmaDarian]

06:46 PM on 12/18/2011

Same reason our First Lady is criticized in some pretty disgusting ways when other First Ladies, even those married to presidents with abysmal approval ratings, never were. And why a congressman yelled "you lie" during President Obama's address. Never seen that happen before either.

There is a level of vitriol and disrespect that, imo, go way past disapproving of policies or actions to just plain racism. I simply do not believe that a white president would ever be called a liar during an address or a white First Lady would be criticized the way Michelle Obama has been. And I don't believe a white president would be facing questions about his place of birth even after releasing two authenticated birth certificates.

[Americanwoman55]

01:18 PM on 01/05/2012

Don't leave out asking for Obama's grades, etc...

Like Bush will ever release his grades? LMBO.

[TwinX]

11:14 PM on 12/18/2011

Birthers have somehow persuaded themselves that *all* former Presidents have done so.

What's more, they believe (because some other birther sed it on a blog) that all candidates/Presidents have released every personal record from their youth. In particular they claim grades/transcripts have been released.

They haven't. I have been slogging back through 50 years worth of candidates and can't find a single one who willingly* released their college transcript/s

*President Bush, Al Gore, John Kerry and Rick Perry? Their grades were leaked. None of them waived their right to privacy.

[AlCu]

08:36 AM on 12/19/2011

That is correct! They all point to Bush's grades, some of which can be seen online,as though he authorized release. He did not. As you say, they were leaked. I ran into one birther who pointed to the fact that President Reagan's birth certificate can be seen in his presidential library, and he provided me an image of it, and right there ON THE FACE OF IT, it has the stamp of the local registrar showing that it was a certified copy issued in 1991 -- AFTER Reagan left office. And yet the birth-loon insisted it had been released before Reagan took office in 1981.

Birthers are impervious to reality.

[Craig Carson]

03:08 PM on 12/18/2011

Attention State Of Georgia...upon further consideration we have decided that you can go. You can secede from the union, you are making the rest of us look bad. Oh, and say hello to President Larry the Cable Guy for me!!!

[TwinX]

09:47 PM on 12/18/2011

Unfair. Birthers will be pulling this stunt in every State they can.

[catgale1123]

02:44 PM on 12/18/2011

I think everyone has to remember that it is better to bash the individuals not the state, I remember a story on which Flyers fan booed a man from another team that was speaking on a fundraiser for a cancer promo, and all of the sudden "everyone from philly is trash" or "philly is a cesspool" even one suggesting to blow up the city! A fellow American claiming that a piece of this country should be blown up because of some idiots. Remember Spelman, Moorehouse, Georgia Tech etc are very wonderful insitutions in Georgia, though Ray Charles might want to change his song, that's up to his spirit though!

[TwinX]

09:49 PM on 12/18/2011

'it is better to bash the individual­s not the state'

*Applause*