The sponsor of a “birther” bill that has stalled in the Georgia House made a last-ditch effort Tuesday to get a vote on the proposal.
Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Waycross, failed in his attempt to get the powerful Rules Committee to amend a bill setting the date for Georgia’s presidential primary. He tried to add language from House Bill 401, which would force presidential and vice presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before landing on the Georgia ballot.
The attempt would have led to a Crossover Day vote on Wednesday, the last day for a measure to pass from one chamber for review in another. The primary bill is up for a vote on Wednesday, but without any amendments.
Hatfield’s bill, which originally had 93 co-sponsors, had just 65 backers by this week. Most of the 28 lawmakers who dropped off said they hadn’t seen the language in the proposal and felt the state had more important matters to address.
Hatfield’s bill was inspired by the “birther” movement, which believes President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Hawaii has released records of Obama’s birth, but it remains a popular sentiment among some factions.
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