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Birther Bills: They’re Back!

By on March 23, 2012 in Legislation

If you’ve been reading the coverage of the Arizona Cold Case Posse, you probably also know that Arizona Representative Carl Seel is headed back to the Arizona legislature with another attempt to get a birth certificate from Barack Obama. See my article: “Arizona legislator seeks ‘third-time charm.’”

Nebraska is back with Legislative Bill 654 that requires a birth certificate from presidential candidates and makes it a Class IV felony for a member of the Electoral College to vote for someone not certified as eligible by the Secretary of State.

Read more:

Kansas committee approves Birther Bill

By on February 16, 2012 in Legislation

The Topeka Capitol-Journal reports that the Kansas House Elections Committee yesterday approved a bill that would require candidates for state and federal office to provide proof of citizenship.

Representative Ann Mah (D-Topeka) called it a “birther bill.”

Rep. Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican and chairman of the House Elections Committee, said origin of House Bill 2224 was tied to anxiety about Obama’s birth status.

He said the amended version had more to do with acknowledgment  candidates for state and federal office in Kansas should be held to the same identification requirements applied to people casting votes in the state’s elections.

The version of the bill currently available from the Kansas Legislature web site states:

(e) A candidate for any national or state office who seeks nomination by either primary election or petition pursuant to subsection (a) shall show proof of United States citizenship to the secretary of state in the form of a certified copy of the candidate’s birth certificate and the candidate’s drivers license or other government-issued identification.

New Sec. 2. (a) The national political party committee for a candidate for president for a party that is entitled to continued representation on the ballot shall provide to the secretary of state written notice of that party’s nomination of its candidates for president and vice-president. Within 10 days after the submittal of the names of the candidates, the national political party committee shall submit proof of the candidates’ United States citizenship to the secretary of state in the form of a certified copy of the candidates’ birth certificates and the candidates’ drivers licenses or other government issued identification.

(b) If the national political party committee does not submit the documents required by this section, the secretary of state shall not place
those candidates’ names on the ballot in this state.

Sec. 3. K.S.A. 25-202 is hereby repealed.

Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the statute book.

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New Hampshire Birther Bill nixed

By on February 16, 2012 in Legislation

The Concord Monitor reports that the State House Election Law Committee roundly rejected (14-3) a bill that would have required candidates for President to submit their birth certificates.

The bill (HB 1164) was sponsored by two of the Republican lawmakers that unsuccessfully tried to keep Obama off the NH primary ballot last year. Sponsor DeLumus explained that the bill was not against Obama because it wouldn’t take effect until 2013. Even after removing “long form” language in favor of a “certified copy of a birth certificate” the Committee wasn’t buying.

New birther bill in Arizona

By on January 13, 2012 in Legislation

The Tucson Citizen reports the birther bill is back, introduced by Representative Carl Seel. His bill was passed last year, but vetoed by Republican governor Jan Brewer.

From Blog for Arizona:

Seel’s solution is to simplify the bill so that a candidate would only be required to sign, under penalty of perjury, an affidavit swearing that he or she meets the qualifications for the office, including their citizenship. If citizens were to question whether the candidate was qualified, Seel’s bill would state that the citizen would have standing to file suit against the candidate.

It should be interesting to see what if any effect the Georgia ballot challenge court proceeding will have on the bill. A birth certificate submitted to the court and positive determination of eligibility in Georgia would, in this writer’s opinion, take the wind out of the sails of a bill in Arizona.

Arizona legislator seeks “third time charm”

By on December 13, 2011 in Joe Arpaio, Legislation

According to AZCentral.com, the “birther” eligibility bill that was vetoed by Arizona Republican governor Jan Brewer, is coming around for the third attempt, to be introduced by Rep. Carl Seel of Phoenix. The text of the upcoming proposal hasn’t been published, but you can bet that it targeted in some way to exclude Barack Obama from the ballot.

Check out the article for more insider info from Arizona.

Easy come, easy go: Missouri candidate ID amendment

By on May 12, 2011 in Legislation

An amendment to a Missouri election law overhaul bill that would have made candidates SHOW ID has been removed, says OzarksFirst.com.

The amendment was removed, along with several others, by a joint conference committee in hopes that the final bill can pass by the end of the legislative session on Friday.

Is any “birther” legislation going to pass this year? Will anybody still care next year, or did Obama’s long form birth certificate end the quest by those who said it was “not about Obama?”

The Show Me State says, “show me!”

By on May 7, 2011 in Legislation

[There is some question as to whether this bill was actually passed by the Missouri House on May 4. The official Missouri legislative web site says no. There are at least two bills of this nature pending, and we'll just have to wait until something definitive shows up.]

Missouri House passes “birther” bill

Just when you thought the birthers had gone the way of bell-bottom jeans and leisure suits, Missouri steps in front of the speeding train of national opinion and passes a bill requiring candidates to prove their citizenship.

ColorLines reports that the Missouri House just passed HB 121, whose purpose is said by one supporter: to keep illegal immigrants from taking over the White House. One can only wonder if he is referring to what some birther blogs call the “Resident of the United States.”

The relevant section reads:

115.399. 1. … the state committee of each established political party shall certify in writing to the secretary of state the names of its nominees for president and vice president of the United States. Such certification shall include proof of identity and proof of United States citizenship for each nominee.

[Emphasis in original indicates addition to existing law.]

This provision was inserted by committee in an otherwise routine change to election law. I don’t really see a problem with that. But really, these birther bills seem so retro.

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