
Good call on the thread.
I want to do Missouri. It's just a great example of how birfer politics operates.
In 2009, some Republicans in their legislature introduced HRJ 34, a proposed state constitutional amendment, and what they called "the voters' bill of rights". Here's the relevant part:
The right to have only qualified candidates placed on the ballot. The secretary of state shall determine that each person is qualified for the office he or she seeks, according to the law, before placing his or her name on the ballot.
For candidates who are required by the Constitution of the United States to be natural born citizens, the secretary of state shall request an official copy of the candidateÂ’s birth certificate. Other certifications, such as a certificate of live birth, shall not be accepted. Should any candidate fail to provide an official birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, his or her name shall not be placed on the ballot. The secretary of state shall verify the qualifications of any elected officeholder who was previously placed on a Missouri ballot. Should any elected officeholder fail to provide the required documentation or birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall turn the matter over to the attorney general who shall within twenty days file suit to obtain the required documentation.
Missouri Legislature Wants To Vet Obama BC: HJR 34 | Ron Paul 2012 | Sound Money, Peace and Liberty
After the jump, if you click on the link to the bill's text, you see it's been withdrawn. Why? Because the authors of the bill realized that Missouri
ONLY issues COLBs. That bill would have excluded any Missourian from being on their own state's ballot for President! There's not enough bandwidth for the number of lol's I want to post because of that.
So there's a new bill that's been introduced.
Missouri House of Representatives
HTML text:
http://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills111/biltxt/intro/HB0283I.htm
The relevant sentences are bolded. What's different? This one, which has yet to be heard, makes no distinction about an "official birth cerfiticate" and a COLB, like the debacle above. All that's listed is "proof of identity and proof of United States citizenship for each candidate", which means Obama's COLB and, say, driver's license would be good enough.
Birfers, the gifts that keep on giving.