Sen. Barack Obama is qualified to appear on the state's ballot for Election Day despite a Greenwich’s man’s claim he should not be, a judge decided Monday.
Cort Wrotnowski, who runs a health food store and is a registered Republican, claimed election fraud and questioned whether Democratic presidential nominee Obama should be on the ballot.
Wrotnowski said Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz should not have placed Obama's name on the ballot without verifying the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate.
The lawsuit is similar to at least seven others filed in state courts across the country that cite a lack of evidence that Obama was born in the U.S.
Officials in Hawaii have said there's no doubt the Democratic presidential candidate was born there and that the state's health department possesses his original birth certificate.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers dismissed the case Monday after hearing testimony from the state and Wrotnowski, who bought the action.
Wrotnowski, who represented himself in the hearing at Hartford Superior Court, said Bysiewicz is legally obligated to ensure that Obama is qualified to appear on the ballot.
Politics
He said he filed the complaint Friday after local and state elections officials failed to answer questions that might have resolved the issue.
"It's a fundamental point, which is this document has not been produced," he said. "I'm not the first, not the last, just among a growing number of people across the country who've become distressed about the lack of disclosure."
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal argued on behalf of Bysiewicz and the state, saying secretaries of the state have no authority to investigate, prove or disprove the qualifications of national candidates.
"I'm delighted that the court has soundly and quickly rejected a baseless, bogus claim that's apparently part of a nationwide effort to confuse or derail the election," he said.
Obama leads Republican John McCain in Connecticut and in many national polls.
