More lawsuits seeking verification of Obama’s citizenship

By Linda Bentley | November 19, 2008

Allowing a ‘corrupted, fraudulent nomination and election to continue’
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – On October 27, Leo C. Denofrio, a retired lawyer from East Brunswick, N.J., filed an emergency application in N.J. Superior Court for an order compelling Nina Mitchell Wells, Secretary of State (SOS) for the state of New Jersey, to determine ballot eligibility of candidates pursuant to N.J. State Statute.

Denofrio raised questions as to whether, under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, presidential candidates John Sidney McCain and Barack Hussein Obama are each “natural born citizens.”

He points out, as per statute, it is Wells’ function as SOS, “not later than 86 days before any election … shall make and certify, under his hand and seal of office, and forward to the clerks of the several counties of the state, a statement of all such candidates for whom the voters within such county may be by law entitled to vote at such election.”

Denofrio learned the SOS did nothing to independently verify the qualifications of the two major party candidates for president of the United States, in order for the names of those candidates and their respective state electors to appear on ballots in N.J.

Citing McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, which was not a part of the United States when the Constitution was first adopted, Denofrio also notes the publicized allegations about Obama, who has still not presented his original birth certificate to document his citizenship.

When Denofrio received his sample ballot in the mail, he became aware of the Socialist Workers Party, which gained access to the ballot in ten states with its presidential candidate Roger Calero.

However, he said, while Calero was listed on the ballot in those states, “state election officials from Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, and Washington have all, for legal and good cause, refused to list Mr. Calero on the ballots since, having been born in Nicaragua, he is not a ‘natural born citizen’ as required by the Constitution.”

In light of this knowledge, Denofrio attempted to amend his complaint to include Calero, stating the “Calero matter proved that other Secretaries from various states were actually exercising their prescribed authority to protect ballots from fraudulent candidates, whereas the defendant – Secretary of State here in New Jersey was remiss in allowing such a fraud to be perpetrated upon New Jersey voters.”

His application was denied in superior court and again by Judge Jack M. Sabatino in the appellate court, who wrote, “Having reviewed appellant’s claims and the written opposition of the Attorney General, we are satisfied that appellant has failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of his claims … and thus his request for extraordinary injunctive relief on the eve of a national election must be rejected.

On Monday, Nov. 3, Denofrio filed an Application for Emergency Stay with the U.S. Supreme Court. Before leaving the building, he phoned Stay Clerk Danny Bickell, explaining the court rule requiring his application be delivered promptly to Justice David Souter. Bickell assured Denofrio his application would be on Souter’s desk that evening if his papers were in order, which, according to Denofrio, they were.

Following the court rules was crucial because Denofrio didn’t expect Souter to grant his application and he was ready to resubmit his application to Justice Clarence Thomas.
Using Bush v. Gore as the precedent in his filings, Denofrio precisely followed the same course.

However, Bickell did not immediately forward the application to Souter. He also didn’t docket the case until Nov. 6, and when he did, did so incorrectly as an application for an injunction pending the filing of a Writ of Certiorari.

Denofrio contacted Bickell to inform him he had not filed for an injunction and had no intention of filing an application for a writ.

Incensed, Denofrio said, “It’s not the clerk’s job to play Supreme Court Justice. The stay clerk’s job is to collect papers and pass them on to the justices, but as to this action Mr. Bickell basically made a substantive judgment of law and denied my application on his own.”
Denofrio is hopeful he can resubmit his application to Justice Thomas prior to Dec. 15 when the Electoral College meets.

Last week, American Independent Party presidential candidate, Dr. Alan Keyes, along with Dr. Wiley S. Drake, Sr., AIP vice presidential candidate, and Markham Robinson, a Certified California Elector and vice chairman of the AIP, filed a Petition for a Writ of Mandate in Sacramento County, Calif. Superior Court against California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and all of California’s Democratic Party Electors.

The petition asks that Bowen refrain from certifying to the governor the names of the California Electors until such documentary proof is produced and verified showing Obama, as candidate for the office of president of the United States, is a “natural born” citizen of the United States and does not hold citizenship of Indonesia, Kenya or Great Britain.

Keyes cites a 1968 case where the Peace and Freedom Party submitted Eldridge Cleaver as its qualified candidate for president of the United States.

SOS Frank Jordan learned from Cleaver’s birth certificate he was only 34 years old, one year shy of the 35 years required to be on the ballot for president.

Jordan removed Cleaver from the ballot, which Cleaver unsuccessfully challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1984 the Peace and Freedom Party submitted Larry Holmes as its eligible candidate for the presidential primary. He too was removed from the ballot when the SOS found he was similarly ineligible.

Keyes’ petition brings up Philip Berg’s lawsuit and documents indicating Obama was born in what is now Kenya and his paternal grandmother was present at his birth.

While Obama contends he was born in Hawaii in Queens Hospital, his half-sister Maya Soetoro has been quoted saying Obama was born in Kapiolani Hospital.

The petition notes Obama has never presented his original hospital birth certificate from 1961, which would name the hospital along with the name and signature of the doctor in attendance and states, “Clearly, one human being cannot be born in three different places.”

Claiming failure to grant injunctive relief and officially and publicly validate the citizenship claims of Obama will “cast a pall of doubt on the election process and taint the election results themselves,” the petition states. It “would allow a potentially corrupted, fraudulent nomination and election to continue.”