Oklahoma Amendment Requires Birth Certificate for Presidential Nomination

SB 91 requires each candidate required to file a Declaration of Candidacy for any election to provide proof of identity and eligibility to hold the office sought and requires candidates for the nomination for President to provide proof of identity and United States citizenship to the State Election Board and directs that copies of such documents be made available by the Board for public inspection. A candidate shall present a current state or federal government-issued photo identification to provide proof of identity, and shall also present one of the following documents to provide proof of United States natural-born citizenship:

1.  An original birth document issued by a state, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, or a certified copy thereof;

2.  An original birth certificate issued by the federal government, or a certified copy thereof.

The bill was introduced by Senator Ralph Shorty.

“My goal in advancing this amendment is to ensure all presidential candidates adhere to our constitutional requirements for eligibility,” said Shortey, R-Oklahoma City. “Approval of this proposal would not unnecessarily complicate the filing process. This is a simple requirement to secure our election process and make it less likely that abuses occur in the system.”

This amendment passed the senate and is recommend Do Pass by the rules committee in the House.

This bill follows Article 2 Section 1 of the US Constitution which states “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”