Name to appear on Kansas ballot after legal challenge dropped
(CNN) – Efforts to keep President Barack Obama’s
name off of the Kansas presidential ballot were halted Monday when a
state board ended its probe over questions about the president’s place
of birth, the Kansas Secretary of State’s office confirmed.The all-Republican board made its decision after the person leading the objection, Manhattan, Kansas resident Joe Montgomery, dropped his challenge on Friday saying he had received threatening phone calls.
Last year, Obama released his long-form birth certificate from Hawaii to quell speculation that he was not a U.S. citizen and may be constitutionally ineligible to serve as president.
He has previously released a certification of live birth during the 2008 campaign. Both documents show that he was born in a Hawaii hospital on August 4, 1961. Contemporaneously published newspaper announcements also noted the birth in the Aloha State.
Monday's meeting by the State Objections Board, however, did not go down without some drama. Orly Taitz, an outspoken figure in the so-called birther movement, appeared at the gathering and demanded to speak, according to local television station KTKA, a CNN affiliate. She chided board members for overlooking other questions about the president's citizenship.
Obama supporters forcefully responded at the meeting, and both parties were ordered to leave the building by a security officer. It's also worth nothing that Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, is known for his tough stance against illegal immigration and has served as an "informal adviser" to Mitt Romney's campaign.
The Kansas ballot measure is one of several examples of the birther movement's still-persistent presence this election year. Officials in Iowa and Arizona, for example, called for presidential candidates to show proof of U.S. citizenship before they can appear on the ballot–a not-so-veiled nod to birther conspiracists.
While the Republican Party at large brushes off the movement as a distraction, and despite proof to the contrary, some continue to give voice to the issue, notably real estate mogul Donald Trump. Romney, meanwhile, drew criticism recently for making an apparent quip about the issue.
"Ann was born at Henry Ford hospital, I was born at Harper hospital. No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised," Romney said at a Michigan campaign event.
Obama's campaign quickly seized on the comment and faulted Romney for not "standing up to the most strident voices in his party."
The president, however, pokes fun at the issue himself. Campaigning in Florida recently, Obama ran into a six-year-old from Hawaii and jokingly asked to see his birth certificate.
– CNN's Ashley Killough, Peter Hamby, Jim Acosta and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.
STORY
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/17/obama-to-appear-on-kansas-ballot-after-birther-challenge-dropped/
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