President Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961. A scanned image of his birth certificate released during the 2008 presidential campaign says he was, and Hawaii’s health director and its registrar of vital statistics have confirmed it.

Despite all that, a substantial number of Americans are not convinced. In a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 58 percent said Mr. Obama was born in the United States. That leaves a significant minority who said they thought he was born in another country (20 percent) or said they did not know (23 percent). (Question No. 50 in the poll.)

The issue continues to hold sway in some parts of the country, fueled in some cases by the Internet or by television talk shows. In follow-up interviews, some poll respondents were generally vague in explaining how they developed their doubts about Mr. Obama’s birth. The Constitution states that presidents must be natural born citizens, which respondents were informed of in the question posed to them.

Adding to the notion that those doubts still resonate, the Arizona House of Representatives on Monday approved an amendment that would require the president — or any candidate seeking the presidency — to produce an actual birth certificate to get on the ballot. So far, it’s a one-house bill.

Similar legislation promoted by fringe groups known as the “birthers” — who question the legitimacy of Mr. Obama’s presidency — have been proposed in a few other states. But many lawmakers and legal experts dismiss the need for such measures since federal candidates already have to meet citizenship requirements.

Last weekend, at a rally in South Carolina, Tom Tancredo, a former congressman from Colorado and a 2008 Republican presidential candidate, raised the issue anew, asking about Mr. Obama: “If his wife says Kenya is his homeland, why don’t we just send him back?” (Mr. Obama’s father was from Kenya.)

Indeed, the belief that the president was born in another country peaks among his detractors – those who disapprove of the job he’s doing as president and have an unfavorable view of him. That includes 32 percent of Republicans and 40 percent of those who describe themselves as very conservative, according to the poll.

Less educated Americans and senior citizens are also more likely to think so than younger or better educated respondents.



The poll did not include any follow-up questions on the issue, so The Times called back some of the respondents to find out why they do not believe the president was born in the United States, where they think he was born instead and where they get their information.

Several respondents said they thought he was born in Africa (some specifically said Kenya), while others mentioned Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia (where Mr. Obama spent time as a child with his mother), or said they didn’t know. Sources of information included the Internet, TV, newspapers and friends.

But the respondents were generally vague, with some suggesting that part of the skepticism regarding the president’s birthplace may have more to do with distrust of Mr. Obama himself than with any evidence they have seen on the issue.

“I really haven’t talked to anyone about him,” said Irene Santiago, 67, a Republican of Modesto, Calif. ” I just have a gut-level feeling that he is not an honest man. He is deceptive.”

Tommy Barnett, 56, an independent of Cullman, Ala., said: “Somebody told me he’s not from here. I said I never heard of Barack Obama, that’s not American, then we find out he’s Muslim. What they got somebody like that running our country for?”

The Obama-is-a-Muslim rumor has dogged him since he was a candidate for the presidency; Mr. Obama and his family are Christians.

Another poll respondent, Duane Rasmussen, a Republican from Reno, Nev., questioned the validity of Mr. Obama’s papers. “He has not produced a birth certificate from Hawaii,” Mr. Rasmussen said. “There were some pseudo-tries, and all of them have problems as birth certificates. They were not authentic. I believe he is a socialist.”

Harriet Tillman, 75, an independent from Corpus Christi, Tex., said: “After listening to the various news stories that have come out, I think there is a serious question about where he was born. I got it from TV primarily. It was probably somebody on Fox. … It’s been a while, and I haven’t thought about it since. I did feel before he was elected that he was really too young and too inexperienced to be elected, and I just don’t think he handles things as well as he sometimes should.”

Still others said that while they weren’t sure where he was born, it didn’t really matter to them. “I said that because I’m not really informed well enough to know for sure,” Tracy Schepker, 44, a Democrat of Glenwood, Iowa, said. “I think I just heard rumors on TV that he was a Muslim or born somewhere else, but I don’t necessarily believe it. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter because he’s doing everything to the best of his ability and making history.”

Chris Garrett, 26, of Waggaman, La., said: “I don’t know for sure where he’s from actually, but it doesn’t really matter. I think he’s doing a good job. He took over a job that was already messed up, and he’s trying to fix it the best he can.”

And one response went beyond Mr. Obama and underscored the broad dissatisfaction with the government that the poll found. Paul Ivester, 67, a Democrat of Joshua Tree, Calif., said: “I don’t care where he was born. I haven’t voted in a long time. Both parties seem the same.”

In July of last year, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, expressed frustration with those who continued to express disbelief about Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Asked about the “birthers” at a briefing, Mr. Gibbs said: “I almost hate to indulge in such an august setting as the White House — and I mean this in seriousness — the White House briefing room, discussing the made-up fictional nonsense of whether the president was born in this country. If I had some DNA, it wouldn’t assuage those that don’t believe he was born here. But I have news for them and for all of us: The president was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 50th state of the greatest country on the face of the earth. He’s a citizen.”

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted April 5-12 with 1,580 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.