The state health director said yesterday she has personally seen and verified Sen. Barack Obama's original birth certificate in an effort to address numerous requests for the document.

Obama, who is running against Sen. John McCain for president, posted on his Web site the birth certificate showing Honolulu as his birthplace.

State law prohibits the release of a birth certificate except to a person seeking his or her own certificate and the person's spouse, parent and legal guardian.

But health officials have been receiving numerous e-mail and phone requests for the document, according to Janice Okubo, Heath Department spokeswoman.

Health Director Chiyome Fukino said she and the vital statistics registrar viewed and verified Obama's birth certificate.

“;No state official, including Gov. Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawaii,”; Fukino said.

Critics have questioned whether Obama is a U.S. citizen and have filed lawsuits around the country challenging it. Those suits have been dismissed, including one in Ohio yesterday.

In Hawaii, Andy Martin, an Obama opponent, filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking a copy of the birth certificate. The Hawaii Supreme Court on Oct. 22 denied his request to see the document.