On Monday, a state judge rejected a challenge to Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz's status as a natural-born citizen. The judge ruled that the case was filed too late to have merit.
State Supreme Court Justice David Weinstein's ruling allows Ted Cruz's name to remain on the New York ballot for its April 19 presidential primary. According to USA Today, state residents William Gallo of Nassau County and Barry Korman of New York City filed a lawsuit against the Texas senator and the state Board of Elections. Both Gallo and Korman argued that Ted Cruz isn't a natural-born citizen of America and that he was born in Canada, thus, should be removed from the New York Ballot.
However, the state of Board of Elections argued that the challenge was submitted after the deadline to raise objections. Judge Weinstein agreed and declined to review the constitutional issue whether Ted Cruz is a natural-born citizen.
Judge Weinstein wrote that despite the many arguments proffered by petitioners, none can get them around the 'immovable object' standing in the way of such petition, and that is the fact that they have 'failed to file objections within the statutory deadline'. Democrat and Chronicle published Judge Weinstein's decision in the case.
In January, attorney Lawrence Joyce, who supports Cruz's rival Ben Carson, also filed a complaint with the elections board, as reported by Reuters. The board rejected the plaintiff's complaint and Joyce filed a lawsuit which aims to seek judicial review in Cook County.
The law in New York requires preliminary objections to be filed and submitted against a candidate's ballot status three days after they file petitions. In April, Cruz's name will be included along with the six Republicans on the New York primary ballot like front-runner Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Sen. Marco Rubio. Meanwhile, two other candidates will also appear on the ballot despite already having dropped out, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Jeb Bush.
