Letters to CO electors...

Last night, I sent an email to 7 0f the 9 Democratic Electors who will be representing the state of Colorado at the Electoral College on December 15, 2008 (2 of the email addresses I was provided didn't work - I'll be sending physical letters to these two later this week). The letter I attached to the message read as follows:


November 19, 2008

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to you as a curious and concerned American citizen and resident of the State of Colorado. This election cycle, in which Senator Barack Obama was chosen to lead our nation, raised an interesting issue regarding how we ensure our candidates are qualified for the office they seek. My purpose in writing you today is to extinguish both my curiosity and my concern with factual information.

As you are doubtlessly aware, during this most recent election cycle, both of the major party candidates were, at one time or another, accused of not meeting the Constitutional requirements for holding the office of the Presidency. As you know, Article II, Section I, Clause V of our Constitution states that:

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In this election, the allegations brought against both candidates revolved around the “natural born citizen” requirement. My question for you is this: How have you, as an elector representing the State of Colorado, verified that Senator Obama meets the Constitutional requirements for holding the office he has been elected to?

When I first became aware of this issue, my first reaction was a healthy skepticism. My assumption was that there is a standardized process that takes place before the candidate is even allowed to run. I imagined that there are very cut and dried criteria that must be met when establishing whether or not an individual is a natural born citizen of this country, and that there is someone or some group of people who have been granted the authority to certify that each candidate meets the eligibility requirements. Unfortunately, in my own research, I have not been able to locate any evidence that this type of process exists. Would you be so kind as to inform me in a written response, either through electronic or traditional mail:

What the process is
Who is responsible for overseeing that process
Who has the authority to declare that a candidate is eligible
When that process took place during this campaign
Where the public can go to view evidence that the process took place, and that the candidate was found to qualify for the office of the Presidency, and
What positive knowledge or information you possess that makes you certain that Senator Obama meets every necessary requirement to be sworn in as the next President of the United States of America?

You may or may not be aware that there are several individuals throughout the country who are asking electors from their state to obtain the original vault copy of Barack Obama’s birth certificate from the State of Hawaii through a court subpoena. I, personally, find this request extraordinary. However, I also find it extraordinary that, under the circumstances, Senator Obama has not made that document available. It seems a simple request, and one the citizens of America have the right to make of the man who aspires to lead them through these difficult and perilous times we find ourselves in. As an elector, perhaps you can make a direct request for this document to Senator Obama, making it clear that your intent is to verify that he is eligible to hold the office he has been elected to. Rest assured, it would not be difficult for Senator Obama to provide you with this proof – the cost is negligible, and he can request it in various ways that don’t require him to make a trip to Hawaii.

As one of the few people in this country who holds the authority to formally elect Senator Obama into office, I am certain you feel a keen sense of duty to verify that the candidate you will be casting a vote for meets all Constitutional requirements before you elect him to office. I hope you understand that the reason I am writing you today is that I, as a citizen of our State, feel a similar sense of duty to do all that I can to ensure that our electors are fulfilling their duties in a responsible manner. That being said, I look forward to your prompt response and thank you for your selfless service during this historic election.

Your Fellow Citizen,

Justin W. Riggs
(my personal information)