It names Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Republican and Democratic national committees as defendants, saying they failed to uphold the Constitution when they certified results of the November election. It asks Judge David Dreyer to throw out the election results.

The suit is one of five similar challenges. The others were filed in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and Michigan, Ankeny said.

The Indiana suit contends neither Obama nor Republican Sen. John McCain proved he was a natural born citizen and that neither was eligible to be elected president because both were sitting U.S. senators at the time of the election.

"Our argument is that there has to be evidence that a candidate -- any candidate -- actually meets the qualifications," Ankeny said.

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone to U.S. citizens while his father was stationed there while serving in the military. Obama's birth certificate says he was born in Hawaii, but his father was not a U.S. citizen and some have claimed the document is a fake.

But Hawaii officials have said they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii. The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.

The U.S. Supreme Court this month refused without comment to hear a challenge to Obama's citizenship.

The governor's office had no comment other than to confirm that it had received a copy of the suit. Officials at the Indiana state Republican and Democratic parties refused to accept the summons and it was not clear whether national party officials had been served.

Henry Karlson, professor emeritus at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, said the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the election and the lawsuit targeted the wrong defendants.

"They should be suing the electors, not the governor," Karlson said.