Obama stays on Ohio ballots, judge throws out local man's lawsuit
By Justin McClelland
Staff Writer
Friday, October 31, 2008
LEBANON — A Warren County magistrate this morning, Friday, Oct. 31, denied a Turtlecreek Twp. man's attempt to remove Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's name from the ballot in Ohio.
David Neal, 55, claimed in a lawsuit he filed in Warren County Common Pleas Court that Obama is not a U.S. citizen and cannot be elected president because he does not meet the constitutional requirement of being a native-born citizen. Neal claimed Obama was born in Kenya and cited a long-standing Internet rumor. An Obama spokesman on Thursday dismissed the accusation as "roundly and repeatedly debunked."
Neal asked for a court order removing Obama's name from ballots to be used in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, arguing that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner had not confirmed Obama's citizenship status.
Magistrate M. Andrew Hasselbach listened to Neal on Thursday and said he would make his decision by noon on Friday.
"(Neal) presented no witnesses but himself. From that testimony, it is abundantly clear that the allegations in [Neal]'s complaint concerning "questions" about Senator Obama's status as a "natural born citizen" are derived from Internet sources, the accuracy of which has not been demonstrated to either Defendant Brunner or this Magistrate ... Given the paucity of evidence... this Magistrate cannot conclude that Defendant Brunner has abused her discretion in failing to launch an investigation into Senator Obama's qualifications to hold the office of President of the United States. "
The Warren County resident's lawsuit was one of several filed throughout the country. An almost identical complaint, filed Aug. 21 in the U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, was dismissed Friday, Oct. 24, the same day Neal filed his lawsuit in Lebanon. That case was appealed Thursday to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Neal said Thursday that he was not working with any group in particular but had been in contact with hundreds of people nationwide discussing the issue.
He could not be reached for comment this morning.
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