Still undecided is a local partisan judicial race in Hamilton County, Ohio. The race is very close and the outcome probably depends on whether almost 200 disputed provisional ballots can be counted. On January 27, the 6th circuit issued an order, generally upholding the U.S. District Court’s order that these ballots should be counted. They were cast by voters who were voting in the wrong precinct, but this was a case when several precincts were voting in the same building, and elections officials caused the error. The case is Hunter v Hamilton County Board of Elections. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Five Democratic state representatives in Hawaii have introduced HB 1116. It waives the standard rule for privacy, concerning birth certificates, for individuals of “civic prominence.” The bill defines these such a person as “a person who is a candidate for, or elected to, a public office that requires the person to be a United States citizen, either natural born or naturalized, to hold the public office for which they are a candidate or to which they have been elected.” The fee for this birth certificate would be $100. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.

Bills have been introduced in at least nine states to provide that certain presidential candidates may not be listed on ballots unless a birth certificate is submitted to elections officials. Some of these bills only relate to presidential candidates running in a presidential primary. Others relate to presidential candidates on the November ballot.

Bills that only relate to candidates running in a presidential primary are: Indiana SB 114; and Oklahoma SB 91 and SB 384.

Bills that cover all candidates who seek to run in the general election are: Connecticut SB 391; Nebraska LB 654; Oklahoma SB 540; and Texas HB 295 and HB 529.

Bills that cover some candidates in the general election, but not all of them, are: Arizona HB 2544; Georgia HB 37; Missouri HB 283; Montana HB 205.

When the bills attempt to cover nominees of qualified parties in general elections, they vary according to who is supposed to furnish the birth certificate. Connecticut’s SB 391 is the strangest, because it puts the requirement in the passive voice, so as to avoid saying who is supposed to furnish the document. It says the bill “requires the Secretary of State to be presented with an original birth certificate.” Nebraska’s LB 654 requires the officers of the national party nominating convention to furnish the certificate. Arizona’s HB 2544, and Georgia’s HB 37, require the national committee of the party to furnish it. Missouri’s HB 283 requires the state party officers to furnish it. Texas’ HB 295 and HB 529 require the presidential candidate to furnish it. Oklahoma’s SB 540 doesn’t say who is to furnish it, but says any voter can challenge the ballot status of a presidential candidate’s citizenship.

A strange bill in Maine, LD 34, requires independent presidential candidates, but no other presidential candidates, to submit a birth certificate. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for news about these bills.