University of Michigan University Library

UM has one of the finest collections of information regarding everything presidential, so some time ago, I sent them a message. I was surprised and delighted when I heard back from them. Unfortunately, they had no new information that I could use. Here is the text of the message they sent:

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Dear Justin:
Happy new year, and my apologies for keeping you waiting regarding
your question about presidential qualifications.

The U.S. Constitution states the qualifications of an individual to
become president
(http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section1):

"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. "

There is no mention of how to prove these qualifications, however.

From what I have found, last year Philip Berg filed suit against
various parties claiming that Barack Obama was ineligible to be
president; that suit was dismissed. He also tried to delay or stop the
national election, which obviously did not happen. You can find the
Federal Election Commision's (FEC) statement regarding these cases
here: http://www.fec.gov/law/litigation/berg_ac_fec_opp_emerg_mot.pdf

The statement above includes wording that the FEC "has no
responsibility for or oversight over the Constitution?s Presidential
Qualifications Clause," ruling out the FEC in answer to your question.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), on their FAQ
page
(http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/previous_questions.html)
, includes the question: Who verifies if a candidate is qualified to
run for President?

Their answer is to contact local state officials:

"The Office of the Federal Register at the National Archives and
Records Administration administers the Electoral College process,
which takes place after the November general election. The Office of
the Federal Register does not have the authority to handle issues
related to the general election, such as candidate qualifications.
People interested in this issue may wish to contact their state
election officials or their Congressional Representatives.

Because the process of qualifying for the election and having a
candidate's name put on the ballot varies from state to state, you
should contact your state's top election officer for more information.
In most states, the Secretary of State is the official responsible for
oversight of state elections, including the presidential election.
Visit the National Secretaries of State web site to locate contact
information and web addresses for the Secretary of State from each
state and the District of Columbia.

Under federal law an objection to a state's electoral votes may be
made to the President of the Senate during Congress's counting of
electoral votes in January. The objection must be made in writing and
signed by at least one Senator and one member of the House of
Representatives. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives
debate the objection separately. Debate is limited to two hours. After
the debate, both the Senate and the House of Representatives rejoin
and both must agree to reject the votes."

Based on this statement, it would seem that you are contacting the
correct parties. You may also want to contact the Sec of State's
office in Illinois: http://www.sos.state.il.us/

I am sorry I do not have a conclusive answer for you! Good luck with
your research.

Best,
Shevon
Ask a Librarian staff

Your original question: I've been trying to ascertain how a presidential candidate's eligibility is determined, specifically regarding the qualifications set out in Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution.


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