PA. State Rep.: Require Candidate Documentation

In light of the ongoing controversy regarding U.S. citizenship as it pertains to candidates running for public office, Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Majority Chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) announced today that he has re-introduced legislation to require all candidates for political office to officially submit documentation proving Constitutional eligibility for ballot access.

“America’s founding fathers said it best, ‘a well-informed electorate taught to know and prize their God-given rights cannot be enslaved,’” said Metcalfe. “As a veteran and an elected official who takes an oath of office, just like every past and future President of the United States, to uphold and defend the Constitutional rights of the citizens I represent, it is beyond perplexing and greatly troubling that a political candidate can ascend to the highest levels of government without providing sufficient documentation verifying his or her place of birth or American citizenship.”

Specifically, Metcalfe’s legislation, House Bill 1350, would amend Section 910 of the Pennsylvania Election Code regarding the submission of candidate affidavits with the following underlined provisions:

1. “Each candidate for any State, county, city, borough, incorporated town, township, ward, school district, poor district, election district, party office, party delegate or alternate, or for the office of President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, United States Senator or Representative in Congress shall file with his nomination petition his affidavit stating...”

2. “Each candidate for President of the United States shall file with his or her nomination petition or substituted nomination certificate or the applicable nomination paperwork an affidavit containing information enumerated in section 910 and shall append to the affidavit documentation that provides proof that the candidate is a natural born citizen, proof of the candidate’s age and proof that the candidate meets the residency requirements set forth in section 1 of Article II of the Constitution of the United States.”

3. ...“Each candidate for Vice President of the United States shall submit to the Secretary of the Commonwealth containing information enumerated in section 910 and shall append to the affidavit documentation that provides proof that the candidate is a natural born citizen, proof of the candidate’s age and proof that the candidate meets the residency requirements set forth in section 1 of Article II of the Constitution of the United States.”

“This legislation is intended to send the message that even those candidates who are running for our nation’s highest office are not above the law,” said Metcalfe. “Final passage of this legislation will provide additional levels of both trust and verification that anyone seeking elected office in Pennsylvania is just as much an American citizen as the voters supporting their candidacy. Requiring all candidates, for the offices of President and Vice President, to submit valid proof of natural born citizenship documentation in exchange for statewide ballot access is a fundamental and long-overdue check and balance that must be implemented to further ensure that the Oval Office is never occupied by anyone other than a natural born American citizen.”