A state legislator in Arizona is circulating a measure among her colleagues that would call for a constitutional convention to address whether Sen. Ted Cruz is eligible to run for president, The Arizona Republic reported.
The measure being floated by Republican state Rep. Kelly Townsend would have the state legislature request a constitutional convention to determine what the Constitution’s “natural born” requirement means. For such a constitutional convention to be convened, two-thirds of the state’s legislatures must request it.
The issue has come to the forefront of the 2016 campaign after Donald Trump re-invigorated accusations that because Sen. Ted Cruz was born in Canada, it’s possible he is not a natural born citizen and thus may be ineligible for the presidency.
Many legal scholars have argued that “natural born” applies to children born abroad to an American parent (in Cruz’s case, his mother), since they are citizens at the time of their birth and do not have to go to through a naturalization process. But some constitutional experts — including a few of Cruz’s defenders — say the question is still unsettled.
“Just define it!” Townsend said of her measure, according to the Arizona Republic.
