On May 2, Alan Keyes asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his lawsuit against California Secretary Debra Bowen. The case is Keyes v Bowen, 10-1351. Here is the cert petition. Keyes, who ran for President in 2008, believes that President Obama does not meet the constitutional qualifications. He also believes that California law requires election officials to keep candidates off the ballot if they do not meet the constitutional qualifications.
The State Court of Appeals had ruled in this case last year that the California Secretary of State “has no discretion for the general election ballot…She must (“must” is in italics in the decision) place on the ballot the names of the several political parties’ candidates.” This is a significant ruling, given that in both 1968 and 1984, California Secretaries of State had removed presidential candidates from ballots because those presidential candidates did not meet the constitutional qualifications to hold the office. On February 2, 2011, the California Supreme Court had refused to hear the Keyes case, and it is likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will also refuse to hear it. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.