An article that appeared in the Huffington Post describes one man's reason why Barack Obama's name should not appear on the Pennsylvania ballot. Thomas Barchfeld is arguing that Obama is not legally allowed to be president. Although Barchfield has openly stated that he disagrees with Obama's policies, this is not the reason for his opposition. Barchfield points out that in the U.S. Constitution, in order to become president of the United States you must be a "natural born citizen". The Constitution', however, does not explain what exactly this means. Since the Constitution does not explicitly define "natural born citizen", it is up to the Supreme Court to decipher its' meaning- which it did in the court case Minor v. Happersett of 1875. This court case ruled that a natural-born citizen can only be someone born in the United States to citizen parents. Barchfeld argues that because Obama's father was born in Kenya, it is unconstitutional for him to run for president.
This is an interesting idea that Barchfeld raises. Many argue in opposition that it has been generally inferred for at least a hundred years that a "natural born citizen" is a person who is born in the United States. However, the Supreme Court did make a decision which has yet to be overturned.