Judge tosses suit to keep Obama off Alabama ballot, new case filed

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A state judge agreed with Democrats on Monday and dismissed a lawsuit aimed at keeping President Barack Obama off the ballot in Alabama this year, joining other jurists who have thrown out cases arguing Obama isn’t a natural-born U.S. citizen and can’t legally hold the office.

The fight isn’t yet over whether Obama will appear on the state’s ballot, however, since a similar suit was filed as the time the judge was tossing the first one.

Circuit Judge Helen Shores Lee, herself a Democrat, sided with a party lawyer who argued that plaintiff Albert Hendershot Jr.’s claims about Obama’s eligibility to serve are a political dispute, not a legal question, and don’t belong in court.

Hendershot, who filed suit in December, declined comment after a brief hearing, but he previously said he would appeal to the Republican-controlled Alabama Supreme Court.

As the hearing was being conducted, Crenshaw County resident Harold Sorensen filed a similar lawsuit in Jefferson County. That case, too, was assigned to Lee by random draw.

 Read More at The Washington Post By Associated Press, The Washington Post