Arizona House requires Barack Obama birth certificate for 2012

Phoenix - The House in the state of Arizona approved a provision that would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he wants to be on the state's Presidential ballot for 2012.

In a Republican-dominated legislature, the Arizona house voted in favor, 31-22, to require the United States President to show his birth certificate to the state if he wants to be on the ballot in Arizona when he runs for re-election in 2012, according to CBS News. The provision would force Obama to provide documents proving that he meets the Constitutional requirements to be Commander-in-Chief. But one Phoenix Democratic Representative said the latest bill is making Arizona “the laughing stock of the nation.” NPR reports that Secretary of State Ken Bennett noted that it could be unconstitutional for a state to impose its own requirements on the federal government. In the past, both the Obama administration and Hawaiian officials have provided documentation to prove that he was born in the United States and is Constitutionally viable to serve in office, notes Politico.

White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Obama listens, during a meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the Situation Room of the White House

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This still has not satisfied many in Arizona, including J.D. Hayworth, a former Republican Congressman and challenger for Senator John McCain in the Republican primary. Hayworth called for Obama to submit his birth certificate. The former 2008 Presidential candidate has not taken a public stand on the issue but has defended Obama in the past when a woman called the President an Arab. If the Arizona bill passes, it would be the first state to require U.S. Presidential candidates to provide their birth certificate if they want to run for office. Florida and Oklahoma have attempted before but failed.