The Arizona Presidential Eligibility Bill

WILL ARIZONA DO WHAT GEORGIA FAILED TO DO?

by Joe the Blogger

(Apr. 11, 2011) — I have copy/pasted the approved amendments to produce the current version of one of the two Presidential eligibility bills going through the Arizona state legislature. This bill, if further amended, could fix the Presidential eligibility problem once and for all.

Note – The original reference to the parents of the Presidential candidates [The affidavit prescribed in subsection A shall include references to and attachment of all of the following, which shall be sworn to under penalty of perjury: – ”the names of the candidate’s mother and father, including information sufficient to determine the citizenship of both parents”] has been removed from STATUTE16-507.01 ……….. B 1.

In my opinion, Arizona legislators should bite the bullet and state that, for the purposes of implementing this bill, the Arizona Secretary of State will rely on the definition of ‘natural born Citizen’, as stated in the first English translation of Vattel’s ‘Law of Nations’, which has been cited in several rulings of the Supreme Court. To that end, the Arizona H.B. 2177 should be amended to require proof that the Presidential candidate’s parents were citizens of The United States of America at the time of the Presidential candidate’s birth. If a candidate wants to challenge this reasonable definition, then he or she would have standing to challenge this definition in the Supreme Court.

Fiftieth Legislature
First Regular Session
Government Reform
H.B. 2177

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM

SENATE AMENDMENTS TO H.B. 2177

(Reference to House engrossed bill)

“Section 1. Section 16-311, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-311. Nomination papers; filing; definitions

A. Any person desiring to become a candidate at a primary election for a political party and to have the person’s name printed on the official ballot shall be a qualified elector of such party and, not less than ninety nor more than one hundred twenty days before the primary election, shall sign and cause to be filed a nomination paper giving the person’s actual residence address or description of place of residence and post office address, naming the party of which the person desires to become a candidate, stating the office and district or precinct, if any, for which the person offers the person’s candidacy, stating the exact manner in which the person desires to have the person’s name printed on the official ballot pursuant to subsection G, and giving the date of the primary election and, if nominated, the date of the general election at which the person desires to become a candidate. A candidate for public office shall be a qualified elector at the time of filing and shall reside in the county, district or precinct which that the person proposes to represent.

B. Any person desiring to become a candidate at any nonpartisan election and to have the person’s name printed on the official ballot shall be at the time of filing a qualified elector of such county, city, town or district and, not less than ninety nor more than one hundred twenty days before the election, shall sign and cause to be filed a nomination paper giving the person’s actual residence address or description of place of residence and post office address, stating the office and county, city, town or district and ward or precinct, if any, for which the person offers the person’s candidacy, stating the exact manner in which the person desires to have the person’s name printed on the official ballot pursuant to subsection G and giving the date of the election. A candidate for office shall reside at the time of filing in the county, city, town, district, ward or precinct which that the person proposes to represent.

C. Notwithstanding subsection B to the contrary, any city or town may adopt by ordinance for its elections the time frame provided in subsection A for filing nomination petitions. Such ordinance shall be adopted not less than one hundred twenty days before the first election to which it applies.

D. All persons desiring to become a candidate shall file with the nomination paper provided for in subsection A an affidavit, which shall be printed in a form prescribed by the secretary of state. The affidavit shall include facts sufficient to show that, other than the residency requirement provided in subsection A, the candidate will be qualified at the time of election to hold the office the person seeks. The affidavit shall include references to and attachment of all documents necessary to show that the person will be qualified at the time of the election to hold the office the person seeks.

E. The nomination paper of a candidate for the office of United States senator or representative in Congress, for the office of presidential elector or for a state office, including a member of the legislature, or for any other office for which the electors of the entire state or a subdivision of the state greater than a county are entitled to vote, shall be filed with the secretary of state no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing.

F. The nomination paper of a candidate for superior court judge or for a county, district and precinct office for which the electors of a county or a subdivision of a county other than an incorporated city or town are entitled to vote shall be filed with the county elections officer no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing as prescribed by subsection

A. The nomination paper of a candidate for a city or town office shall be filed with the city or town clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing. The nomination paper of a candidate for school district office shall be filed with the county school superintendent no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing.

G. The nomination paper shall include the exact manner in which the candidate desires to have the person’s name printed on the official ballot and shall be limited to the candidate’s surname and given name or names, an abbreviated version of such names or appropriate initials such as “Bob” for “Robert”, “Jim” for “James”, “Wm.” for “William” or “S.” for “Samuel”. Nicknames are permissible, but in no event shall nicknames, abbreviated versions or initials of given names suggest reference to professional, fraternal, religious or military titles. No other descriptive name or names shall be printed on the official ballot, except as provided in this section. Candidates’ abbreviated names or nicknames may be printed within quotation marks. The candidate’s surname shall be printed first, followed by the given name or names.

H. A person who does not file a timely nomination paper that complies with this section is not eligible to have the person’s name printed on the official ballot for that office. The filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office unless the person provides or has provided all of the following:

1. The nomination petition required by this title.
2. A political committee statement of organization or the five hundred dollar threshold exemption statement for that office.
3. The financial disclosure statement as prescribed for candidates for that office.
4. The affidavit and attachments prescribed in subsection D.

I. For the purposes of this title:

1. “Election district” means the state, any county, city, town, precinct or other political subdivision or a special district which that is not a political subdivision, which that is authorized by statute to conduct an election and which that is authorized or required to conduct its election in accordance with this title.
2. “Nomination paper” means the form filed with the appropriate office by a person wishing to declare the person’s intent to become a candidate for a particular political office. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 16, chapter 4, article 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-507.01, to read:

START_STATUTE16-507.01. Presidential candidates; affidavit of qualifications; enforcement

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 political party’s nomination of its candidates for president and vice‑president. Within ten days after submittal of the names of the candidates, the national political party committee shall submit an affidavit of the presidential candidate in which the presidential candidate states the candidate’s citizenship and age and shall append to the affidavit documents that prove that the candidate is a natural born citizen, prove the candidate’s age and prove that the candidate meets the residency requirements for President of the United States as prescribed in article II, section 1, Constitution of the United States.

B. The affidavit prescribed in subsection A shall include references to and attachment of all of the following, which shall be sworn to under penalty of perjury:

1. A certified copy of the presidential candidate’s long form birth certificate that includes at least the date and place of birth, the names of the hospital and the attending physician, if applicable, and signatures of any witnesses in attendance. If the candidate does not possess a long form birth certificate as required by this paragraph, the candidate may attach two or more of the following documents that shall take the place of the long form birth certificate if the candidate swears to their authenticity and validity and the documents contain enough information for the secretary of state to determine if the candidate meets the requirements prescribed in article II, section 1, constitution of the United States:

(a) An early baptismal or circumcision certificate.
(b) A hospital birth record.
(c) A postpartum medical record for the mother or child that is signed by the doctor or midwife or person who delivered or examined the child after birth.
(d) An early census record.

2. A sworn statement or form that identifies the presidential candidate’s places of residence in the United States for the preceding fourteen years.

C. In addition to the requirements of subsection B, the presidential candidate may also submit a notarized affidavit from two or more persons who witnessed the presidential candidate’s birth.

D. If the secretary of state receives any documents in place of a long form birth certificate pursuant to subsection B, paragraph 1 and cannot determine if the presidential candidate meets the requirements prescribed in Article II, section 1, Constitution of the United States, the secretary state may establish a committee to assist in the determination or hold hearings and submit any documents for forensic examination.

E. If both the presidential candidate and the national political party committee for that candidate fail to submit and swear to the documents prescribed in this section, the secretary of state shall not place that presidential candidate’s name on the ballot in this state. If the candidate and national political party committee for that committee submit and swear to the documents prescribed in this section, but the secretary of state believes that the preponderance of the evidence shows that the candidate does not meet the citizenship, age and residency requirements, the secretary of state shall not place that presidential candidate’s name on the ballot in this state.

F. A member of the house of representatives, a member of the senate or any other citizen of this state has standing to initiate an action to enforce this section.”

Sec. 3. Severability

If a provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.