Federal Lawsuit Served to Prohibit Obama from Appearing on Ballot

On 12/6/11 Liberty Legal Foundation and Presidential Candidate John Dummett served a Federal complaint on the National Democratic Party at the Party’s Arizona headquarters in Phoenix. The lawsuit, case number 2:11-cv-02089-SRB, cites Supreme Court precedent that prohibits individuals with one non-citizen parent from serving as President of the United States. Since President Obama’s father was never a U.S. citizen, the lawsuit claims that “Mr. Obama” cannot serve as President.
 

The lawsuit does not name Obama as a defendant, but instead targets the National Democratic Party and its current Chairman, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. The lawsuit asks the Federal Court to prohibit the Democratic Party from certifying that Obama is Constitutionally qualified to serve as President. Because most states require such a certification from every candidate, if granted, the injunction would prevent the states from placing Obama’s name on the ballot in the 2012 general election.
 

This challenge to Obama’s Constitutional qualifications is different from any previous legal challenge. First, Obama’s place of birth is completely irrelevant to the pending motion. The only fact asserted in the motion is that Obama’s father was not a U.S. citizen. This is a fact that Obama himself has acknowledged publicly many times. Second, this challenge is being brought on behalf of at least one candidate opposing Obama in the 2012 election. This means that the court is unlikely to dismiss this challenge for lack of standing. Lack of standing is a procedural challenge brought at the beginning of a lawsuit. Standing challenges have derailed almost all previous challenges to Obama’s Constitutional qualifications.

The Democratic Party has 20 days to respond to Liberty Legal Foundation’s complaint. A hearing at the Federal Court in Phoenix on the injunction motion is expected sometime in February or March.

This lawsuit has been filed as a class action lawsuit. Liberty Legal Foundation invites all Presidential candidates and individuals that want the Constitution enforced to join their lawsuit. The Foundation has over 30,000 members in all 50 states, including U.S. citizens living abroad.