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Ted Cruz's Natural Born Citizen Status Being Challenged In Lawsuit

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As the presidential primary race intensifies, supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump have filed birther lawsuits against rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz questioning his eligibility to run for president, reports The Hill.

Filed Feb. 3 at a district court in Alabama, the suit seeks a judgment “declaring that Rafael Edward Cruz is ineligible to qualify/run/seek and be elected to the Office of the President of the United States of America” because of his Canadian birth, says the report. Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American mother, notes the report.

The suit comes as a recent NBC/WSJ/Marist poll shows Trump and Cruz locked in a tight race in South Carolina where a primary race will take place later this month. Evangelicals are a key voting bloc in the Bible Belt state and Trump is ahead with White evangelicals, according to CNN.

Via The Hill:

Several of the five plaintiffs — Sebastian Green, Shannon Duncan, Kathryn Spears, Kyle Spears and Jerry Parker — are backing Trump in the Republican primary, their attorney, Thomas Drake, told The Hill, although he said others are still undecided.

“The only thing they can agree on is Mr. Cruz is not eligible to be president,” Drake said.

The lawsuit cites Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which rules that “no person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president.”

The plaintiffs claim that under the constitutional clause, “Cruz is not a ‘natural born’ citizen of the United States of America.”

Trump tweeted a threat to sue his rival Friday during a war of words over negative campaigning.

A federal lawsuit in Texas has also been filed seeking a judgment on whether Cruz is a natural-born citizen, writes The Hill.

Cruz argues that he is eligible to serve as president, noting  the distinction between natural-born and naturalized citizens. He is a constitutional lawyer and former solicitor general of Texas.

While the outcome of the lawsuits remain unclear, it does cast a pall over Cruz’s candidacy. 

Do you think the suits will work against Cruz? Let us know in comments.

SOURCE: The Hill  | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform

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Trump Supporters File Birther Lawsuit Against Cruz As Sparks Fly In GOP Primary Contest  was originally published on newsone.com