A state House lawmaker introduced legislation today that would require candidates for president to produce a certified copy of his or her birth certificate to be eligible to appear on the Michigan ballot. Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, said the legislation was aimed at “clarify(ing) a constitutional question that has arisen about a number of presidential candidates,” and not about allegations surrounding the birthplace of President Barack Obama.
“I did not introduce this bill to continue the birther debate,” referring to those who have questioned whether Obama was born in the U.S. and eligible to hold the office of president, Callton said in a statement.
“I introduced this bill to end the birther debate. If this bill becomes law, the debate will end once and for all in September 2012.”
The so-called birther question has been pursued mostly on the political fringe since before Obama was elected, focusing largely on the documentation, or lack thereof, of his birth in Hawaii.
It became more prominent in recent weeks when prospective celebrity presidential candidate Donald Trump sent private investigators to Hawaii to look into it, and the Arizona Legislature passed a proposal similar to Callton’s. That bill was vetoed.
