Resolution calls for confirmation of Obama’s citizenship

COLUMBUS — A state lawmaker is urging Electoral College members to confirm the president-elect’s citizenship before casting their ballots next week.

Rep. Diana Fessler, a Republican from west-central Ohio, offered a joint resolution Thursday, during the House’s nonvoting session, calling on electors “to exercise due diligence to ensure that the persons for whom they cast their ballots for president and vice president of the United States are citizens of the United States.”

The resolution, which won’t be acted on by the chamber before next week’s vote, also calls for electors to examine “birth certificates of those persons” and that copies of the resolution be distributed to the governors and Electoral College members in all 50 states.

Ohio’s Electoral College will convene Monday at the Statehouse, with 20 Ohioans expected to cast their ballots for President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Fessler’s resolution is in relation to ongoing conspiracy theories alleging the president-elect is not a natural-born citizen and is ineligible to serve as the nation’s chief executive.

Legal filings on the issue have been made, and the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month quashed one related lawsuit.