Columbia, South Carolina - Democratic presidential candidate Cenk Uygur's request to appear on the South Carolina primary ballot was rejected in a hearing on Wednesday.

The presidential hopeful filed a complaint in the federal district court of South Carolina seeking an order requiring the State Election Commission to include his name on the February 3 primary ballot, but US District Judge Joseph Anderson ruled against his request.

Born in Istanbul in 1970, Uygur (53) became a naturalized American citizen after moving with his family to the United States at the age of 8. He went on to study law and become a well-known political commentator, founding the popular YouTube show The Young Turks.

Questions about eligibility arose after Uygur announced in October that he was entering the Democratic primary for president to take on incumbent Joe Biden.

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While the Constitution states that the president must be a "natural-born citizen," Uygur argues that the 14th Amendment explicitly and implicitly repealed the requirement and that its continued application constitutes discrimination on the basis of national origin.

A number of states have already weighed in on the question of ballot access. Election officials in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Vermont in December indicated that Uygur's name would appear on their state's ballots, his campaign said in a press release.

His request for ballot access has been denied in Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Arkansas – with further action expected in the South Carolina case.

"This is how you pursue a civil rights case! Our petition to be on the ballot in South Carolina was denied. But the judge said repeatedly that our case was very compelling," Uygur posted on X following the decision.

"We’re appealing to the circuit court. We’re going to keep fighting for equality for naturalized citizens," he added.