Next month, a Broward judge will hear arguments in a lawsuit questioning Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Marco Rubio’s eligibility to be President of the United States. On March 4th, Circuit Court Judge John Bowman will hear motions to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Michael Voeltz, a Toyota car salesman. Voeltz is suing Cruz, Rubio, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner and the Republican Party of Florida. Voeltz alleges Cruz and Rubio should be removed from the Florida Presidential primary ballot because they do not meet the Constitutional requirements to be President.
In his twenty-four page complaint, Voeltz cites the U.S. Constitution, the Federalist Papers and Florida Statutes. Citing Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, Voeltz, “Asserts that these two candidates are naturalized US citizens, or at the very least, simply fail to comply with the common law Supreme court definition of natural born citizen, and fail to comport with the manadatory-prohibitory self-executing federal provision that ‘no person, except a natural born Citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the ratification of this Constitution, shall be eligible for the office of President.'” Voeltz, a registered Republican, claims his “right to vote will be diluted, debased and desecrated by the presence of Mr. Cruz and Mr. Rubio on the Florida ballot.”
Senator Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother. His Presidential rival, Donald Trump, has attacked Cruz on the eligibility issue for months. However, the inclusion of Senator Rubio in this lawsuit has surprised some observers. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, was clearly born the United States.
Following Rubio’s strong second-place finish in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Trump focused on the eligibilty issue. On Twitter, Trump shared a post questioning Rubio’s eligibility. Trump backtracked on Sunday, (
Donald Trump: I’m Not Sure Marco Rubio Eligible for Presidency
) telling ABC News, “’it was a retweet — not so much with Marco,’ implying that his concern is with the eligibility of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen mother and is a U.S. citizen.
‘I mean, let people make their own determination,’ Trump said. ‘I honestly have never looked at it. As somebody said, he’s not. And I retweeted it.'”
Senator Cruz has retained David DiPietro, chairman of the North Broward Hospital District as his attorney. Senator Rubio will be represented by Gabriela Prado of Virginia.
PLAINTIFF SUED OBAMA AS DEMOCRAT
Michael Voeltz makes it clear that he is a registered Republican. Four years ago, Voeltz made it clear he was a registered Democrat when he sued President Barack Obama. Once again, Voeltz claimed Obama was not eligible to be President.
In a statement Voeltz said, “US Code 3 S. 5 stipulates that all ‘election contests,’ properly made, be adjudicated with finality prior to the 6th day before Elector voting day by the state where the challenge occurred. Until Florida rules definitively on this challenge of Obama’s eligibility, its Electors will not receive Section 2 status. If the Florida judiciary does not rule on the meaning of ‘natural born Citizen’, and whether Obama is one, it will break that law (US C. 3 s.5). I have filed a properly made contest, perfectly within the Florida statutes, have standing and a real case and controversy to appeal directly to the SCOTUS before Elector Voting day.”
Michael Voeltz
