Maldonado, a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, explains on his website that he became a U.S. citizen in 1995. But he said Secretary of State Robin Carnahan sent him a letter in May asking him to produce documentation.
"I got all my documents together: my birth certificate, which is a Mexican birth certificate; my naturalization certificate; my orders sending me to Iraq and Afghanistan; my bronze-star citations and a couple of officer evaluations that say I'm a pretty good and effective leader," he said. "So I brought all this documentation, and they were only interested in the naturalization certificate. They made a photocopy of it."
Maldonado said he asked Carnahan's office if his citizenship documentation would be public record and available to anyone who wants a copy.
"They said, oh yes, absolutely, anyone that wants proof, we have it," he explained. "I said, OK, can you do me a favor then? I'm sure Ms. Carnahan requested the same of Barack Obama when he petitioned to get on the Missouri ballot to become president."
He added, "They had no response. They had nothing."
I'm actually considering suing Ms. Robin Carnahan because she discriminated against me," he said. "She has said that her job is to protect Missouri from fraud and corruption. But the fraud that she created if she did not make Mr. Obama show proof of citizenship when he petitioned to get on the Missouri ballot … all the votes that he got should be taken back."
He said he hopes citizens of other states sue their own secretaries of state if they cannot show they requested proper documentation from Obama before allowing him to appear on the state ballot.
"Sooner or later, he's going to have to prove – based on our demand – that he is in fact a U.S.-born citizen," he said.
In an earlier interview on the subject, Maldonado said he spoke with other candidates running for the same office and asked if they had to show proof of citizenship or prove that they were citizens.
"They said no. I was the only one," he said. "... I just don't know, if I were running as a Democrat, would I have to prove the same thing? Or is there a more stringent process for the Republican candidates?"