Mr Obama is facing the prospect of not appearing on ballots in Arizona because officials there continue to question whether he was born in the American state of Hawaii in August 1961, as his birth certificate states.
Ken Bennett, Arizona's secretary of state and a state co-chairman for Mitt Romney, Mr Obama's presumed Republican opponent, has repeatedly asked Hawaiian officials to verify the birth certificate.
Letters to voters released under freedom of information laws show that Mr Bennett believes that there may be reason to suspect that the certificate published by the White House could be a forgery.
"If the State of Hawaii does not confirm that he was born in Hawaii, his name will not appear on Arizona ballots," Mr Bennett told another voter who wrote to him about the subject.
Exasperated Hawaiian officials, who have been inundated with requests to verify Mr Obama's birthplace over the past four years, have retaliated by demanding that Mr Bennett prove he has the authority to investigate it.
Mr Bennett's intervention, which will not be welcomed by Mr Romney's campaign, gave voice to a residual hard core of so-called "birthers" who refuse to believe Mr Obama is entitled to lead the US. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Tuesday, May 22, 2012
