A King County Superior Court judge refused today to order the state to demand a birth certificate from Barack Obama.

There's a thread on the Internet that suggests Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii and raises questions about the authenticity of his birth certificate. It has been debunked by groups such as factcheck.org and snopes.com, but some people still have their doubts, even after looking at photos of a certified copy of the certificate.

Judge John Erlick essentially said the state ain't going there. He turned down a request by Stephen Marquis to have Secretary of State Sam Reed demand a copy of the birth certificate or other proof of native-born citizenship.

Erlick said Marquis didn't offer any proof, and he's not even going to rule on the question of citizenship. "The 2008 election is already in progress; ballots have been issued and a substantial number of voters have voted."

This will probably not be enough for some conspiratorialists....

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