Arizona officials revisit Obama's birth certificate - calling for candidates to complete form asking if they are natural-born citizens!

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona officials are jumping back into a persistent, yet debunked controversy over President Barack Obama's birth certificate and his eligibility to hold office.

A legislative committee on Wednesday endorsed a proposal that requires presidential candidates to swear that they meet the qualifications to be the nation's chief executive.

And the Arizona secretary of state is expected in the coming days to call for candidates to complete a new form asking eligibility questions, including whether they are natural-born U.S. citizens.

The widely-disproved notion that the president was born abroad rather than in Hawaii, as state officials have repeatedly confirmed, comes up regularly in Arizona. Most recently, the man known as "America's Toughest Sheriff" released a report from a volunteer posse challenging the authenticity of the president's birth certificate.

In the past, political parties drafted their own certification documents that Arizona officials say didn't consistently address the issue of qualifications.

"There has been a lot of media attention devoted to this, so we wanted to make sure there is a standardized form," said Matthew Roberts, a spokesman for Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

More at [link to news.yahoo.com]