Arizona Secretary of State Satisfied with Obama Birth Documents
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TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images(PHOENIX) — The state of Hawaii has confirmed the birth of President Obama in the state, so now his supporters in Arizona who wish to vote for him will get their chance. Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who earlier this month threatened to keep the president off the Arizona ballot and called for more information about the president’s birth certificate, said Wednesday that Hawaii had provided the confirmation he was seeking.
“Late yesterday, our office received the ‘verification in-lieu of certified copy’ from officials within the Hawaii Department of Health that we requested in March. They have officially confirmed that the information in the copy of the Certificate of Live Birth for the President matches the original record in their files,” Bennett said in a statement Wednesday.
Birthers believe President Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen and have sparked debate about his eligibility to be president. Bennett has insisted that he is not a birther, but defended his request Wednesday, saying that it was his “responsibility to certify the ballot to the state’s 15 counties.”
“At the request of numerous constituents, I merely asked Hawaiian officials to verify the information contained within President Obama’s original both certificate. They have complied with the request and I consider the matter closed,” Bennett said.
Bennett has not confirmed whether he will request a formal verification of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s Michigan birth certificate.
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