Independent presidential candidate Shiva Ayyadurai should be tossed off the New Jersey general election ballot because he’s not a natural-born U.S. citizen, a lawyer for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee said today.
Raj Parikh asked the New Jersey Division of Elections to reject Ayyadurai’s nominating petitions because the U.S. Constitution requires presidents to have been born as U.S. citizens. Ayyadurai was born in India and emigrated at age seven and was naturalized in November 1983.
“Because Dr. Ayyadurai is not a natural-born citizen, he is not qualified to appear on New Jersey’s November 2024 general election ballot as a candidate for President of the United States,” said Parikh, the state party counsel and a partner at PEM Law.
According to Parikh, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia found that Ayyadurai was a naturalized citizen based on his own admission.
New Jersey Administrative Law Judge Wiliam Cooper will hear Parikh’s challenge in court on Monday.
Ayyadurai grew up in Livingston and attended high school with former Gov. Chris Christie.