A New York judge has dismissed a petition that claimed Ted Cruz was not eligible to run for President of the United States because he is not a “natural born citizen.”
Judge David A. Weinstein’s ruling was procedural, stating that the petitioners, Barry Korman and William Gallo, failed to submit timely objections, which stripped the court of jurisdiction over the petition. His ruling did not consider the actual merits of whether Cruz, who was born in Canada, qualified as a natural-born citizen in this year’s presidential election.
In oral arguments last week, attorneys for Korman and Gallo, and the New York State Board of Elections argued whether Weinstein had authority as a New York State Supreme Court justice to hear a case challenging someone’s standing in a federal election.
Korman and Gallo’s legal team argued that Weinstein had the responsibility to apply federal law. Yet their opponents pressed that “the horse is out of the barn” and that it would not make sense to disrupt a presidential election, creating chaos by ruling on whether Cruz can appear on a New York ballot but leaving other state courts to make their own decision about whether Cruz can appear on theirs.
The New York case is one of several “birther” lawsuits unfolding across the country, a batch of litigation encouraged by Cruz’s GOP presidential rival Donald Trump, who has openly questioned whether the Texas senator can serve as president.
