Top court rejects bid to disqualify Obama as president

The US Supreme Court slapped down a new bid
seeking to show that Barack Obama was
ineligible to be elected president
© AFP/File Saul Loeb

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Supreme Court Monday slapped down a new bid seeking to show that Barack Obama was ineligible to be elected president of the United States in the 2008 White House race.

The nation’s highest court refused to take up a case brought by three people “who claim President Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States of America and, hence, is ineligible to be the president,” court documents said.

The nine justices, meeting as they opened a new term, thus upheld a August 2010 California appeals court ruling which found that the “plaintiffs’ contentions lack merit.”

The appeals court also argued “the presidential nominating process is not subject to each of the 50 states’ election officials independently deciding whether a presidential nominee is qualified, as this could lead to chaotic results.”

Some rightwing conspiracy theorists have claimed that Obama, whose father was from Kenya, was not born on US territory, which would disqualify him for the presidency.

But official records show Obama was born in the state of Hawaii and the White House even released the official full version of his birth certificate in a bid to squash the debate.