Orly Taitz speaks to the State Objections Board. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)
President Barack Obama will appear on the Kansas election ballot, after all. That comes after the State Objections Board today (MON) ended a review of a complaint filed by a Manhattan man. Joe Montgomery had argued Obama wasn’t eligible to run for president because of questions about his citizenship. Montgomery withdrew his challenge last week. The board ended the review after a contentious meeting in Topeka. KPR’s Stephen Koranda was there and has this report.
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(TRANSCRIPT)
Joe Montgomery withdrew his complaint, saying animosity and intimidation had been directed at him. Last week, the state requested and received documents from Hawaii officials saying the information in the president’s birth certificate is accurate. But that didn’t convince some people at the meeting. California Attorney Orly Taitz (“tates”) made multiple attempts to speak during the hearing and was eventually recognized
(Sound from hearing)
Taitz claimed the board was ignoring important evidence. Taitz and Secretary of State Kris Kobach went back and forth during the short meeting until the board adjourned because the complaint had been withdrawn. After the meeting, Kobach said he has no doubts about Obama’s citizenship. When asked why they took the time to investigate the complaint, Kobach said that’s the duty of the board.
“That’s the nature of the board. Our board has to entertain all objections whether they be weak objection or strong objections. We have a duty to the people of Kansas under state law to investigate every objection and make a determination.”
Orly Taitz is active in the birther movement. So-called birthers argue Obama isn’t eligible to be president because of questions about his citizenship. She claims Obama has a forged birth certificate and social security number.
“We have the biggest crime in the history of this nation and the biggest embarrassment to this nation, that a person with forged documents is sitting in the White House and intends to be there for four more years.”
After the meeting people on both sides of the issue clashed, sometimes shouting or trying to interrupt each other.
(Sound of talking outside the courtroom)
Security Guards eventaull ordered the entire crowd outside after the meeting. Supporters of the president in the crowd seemed to outnumber people raising questions about his citizenship. Topekan Patrice Peters says she came out because she believed her right to vote for the president was being threatened. She wishes questions about his birth certificate would be put to rest.
“It just doesn’t make any sense, because he’s shown it over and over and over again. There’s always going to be somebody that’s going to bring up some odd thinking that makes everyone else kind of go along with them and I wish that would just go away.”
Questions have been raised about Obama’s eligibility to run for president in a handful of other states. Kansas now joins those states in allowing President Obama to appear on the ballot.
Lead out: You can stay up to speed on Statehouse news by following Stephen on Twitter. He's @KPRKORANDA. That's @KPRKORANDA ("at K-P-R Koranda")
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(NEWSCAST VERSION)
President Barack Obama will appear on the November election ballot in Kansas. The State Objections Board today (MON) formally ended a review of a complaint filed by a Manhattan man. Joe Montgomery had argued Obama wasn’t eligible to run for president. Montgomery withdrew his challenge last week because of what he called intimidation. After reviewing documents from the state of Hawaii, Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he now has no doubts about the president’s citizenship, but he says the board had to investigate the claim.
California lawyer Orly (OR-lee) Taitz (“tates”), who has publicly questioned Obama’s citizenship, showed up at the meeting demanding to speak. She told board members they were ignoring important evidence. Taitz and supporters of the president clashed after the meeting until they were all ordered out of the building by security.