In 2012, Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County, Arizona, had followed up on his investigative team's findings, which suggested that Barack Obama's Selective Service registration form was likely a forgery. In a letter, Arpaio requested Selective Service Director Lawrence Romo to provide original documentation.

A copy of Obama's registration form indicated the registration occurred at the Makiki Station Post Office in Honolulu on July 29, 1980. Arpaio sought to have court-approved forensic experts, chosen by his office, examine the original for authenticity, alongside any existing microfilm or computer copies.

In his letter, Arpaio also urged Romo to initiate his own investigation to determine when and how Obama's Selective Service registration was submitted and entered into the agency's records.

Arpaio had no doubt that the agency had established procedures for investigating probable cause suspicions of forgery concerning a Selective Service Registration card.

He told Romo that his sheriff's office would appreciate knowing the steps the Selective Service system would take to pursue these allegations, aiming to identify those responsible for producing the document.

Arpaio asked Romo to respond within 30 days regarding whether his national office would provide the original document and if the agency would conduct its own investigation.

Date Stamp Questioned

Arpaio's investigators reviewed several authentic Selective Service registration forms obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests from the federal government.

Exhibit B showcased four authentic Selective Service registration forms. All forms displayed a Post Office stamp indicating the year with four digits.

In stark contrast, the year designation on Obama's Selective Service registration showed two digits, marking only "80" instead of "1980."

Exhibit C highlighted the standard Post Office date-stamp equipment used on Selective Service registration forms. A close-up revealed the three slots designed for inserting the month, day, and year plugs.

Exhibit D displayed five examples of the expected results from the pica stamp used by the U.S. Post Office to date-stamp Selective Service registration forms.

The first two stamps in the illustration came from the same Post Office – Makiki Station in Honolulu, Hawaii noted on Obama's Selective Service registration.

While some stamped letters in the outer ring on authentic documents appeared indistinct or missing, all authentic date stamps contained four-digit year centers.

Investigators Recreated Obama's Date Stamp

Arpaio's investigators interviewed several 1980s-era Post Office employees who confirmed the standard procedure was to use a four-digit date stamp.

The investigators then turned their attention to discovering how Obama's Selective Service registration form could have obtained a two-digit year stamp.

Exhibit E showed investigators obtained an authentic 1980 pica date stamp. The photograph also featured the knife set used in the investigation.

Since investigators found no 1980 pica Post Office date stamps available, they resorted to cutting a 2008 pica Post Office date stamp and inverting the "08" half, so when placed in the date compartment, it printed "80."

Amazingly, the result resembled the date stamp on Obama's Selective Service registration card, as shown in Exhibit F.

Exhibit F demonstrated the "80" two-digit PICA Post Office date stamp on Obama's Selective Service registration (black stamp) and the date stamp produced by Arpaio's investigators (red stamp).

Exhibit G clarified that the off-to-the-right date stamp in the registration, similar to Arpaio's investigators' demonstration, did not appear in the authentic four-digit pica date stamp used in the same office indicated on Obama's Selective Service registration, which was the same month, July 1980.

The numbers "80" on Obama's card were misaligned to the right because, when the numbers "08" were cut from the "2008" date plug, they weren't cut precisely.

Arpaio's investigators concluded that Obama's Selective Service registration card mirrored a common narrative in his life: not only was the document forged, but it was poorly forged.