Eight Arizona legislators have introduced SB 1158, to require presidential candidates at the general election to submit “documents that prove that the candidate is a natural born citizen.” Since “natural born citizen” is not defined in the bill, nor in the U.S. Constitution, one wonders which documents John McCain would have been required to produce in 2008, if this bill had been law. He was born either in Panama or in the Canal Zone.

The bill also requires presidential candidates to submit documents that prove they meet the residency requirement. The Constitution requires presidents to have lived in the United States for 14 years. Finally, the bill requires presidential candidates to prove their age. The bill applies to independent presidential candidates, and to the presidential nominees of qualified parties. For party nominees, the bill requires the “national political party committee” to be responsible for obtaining the documents from its presidential candidate. The bill also applies to candidates for vice-president.

The bill’s lead sponsors are Senator Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) and Representative Judy Burges (R-Skull Valley). The other sponsors are Senators Pamela Gorman (R-Anthem), Ron Gould (R-Lake Havasu City), Chuck Gray (R-Mesa), Jack Harper (R-Surprise), Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert), and Representative Carl Seel (R-Phoenix).

Back on September 22, 2008, Bob Barr won a federal court injunction against Massachusetts, over whether his name should be on the ballot even though the party had used a stand-in on its presidential petition. The case was called Barr v Galvin. The memorandum and order of Judge Nathaniel Gorton is now reported at 584 F Supp 2d 316.

When a case is “reported”, that means it is printed in the Federal Supplement, a series of books that is found in every law library. Cases that are reported can more easily be cited as precedents. Judges decide which of their decisions should be reported. In the past, many federal ballot access victories have not been reported, which diminishes their usefulness. For example, the only other federal court victory on presidential substitution, a 1996 decision won by the Libertarian Party against Florida, is not reported. Barr v Galvin is the first reported decision on presidential substitution.

States that have refused to permit presidential substitution are Alabama, Maine, and New Hampshire, and having Barr v Galvin reported may help to persuade state legislators in those states to revise the law on that point.