Accusations Interrupt Tea Party Meeting

An uninvited California secretary of state candidate interrupted a Tea Party meeting in Hermosa Beach on Tuesday evening with accusations that her opponent committed voter fraud.

The meeting of the South Bay Tea Party was held at the Church of Christ on Aviation Boulevard.

The candidate, Orly Taitz, claimed that her opponent, Republican Damon Dunn, was ineligible to run because he had tried to alter his voting record. South Bay Tea Party leader Gary Aven asked Taitz to leave, but she refused.

While Dunn was speaking to the crowd, a worker for Taitz interrupted him and handed him what she said was a "summons to court."

The paper outlined a lawsuit filed by Taitz supporter Pamela Barnett that accused Dunn of being ineligible because he had asked Florida election officials in July 2009 to remove from his voting record his 1999 registration as a Democrat.

Aven asked the crowd how many people would like Taitz to stay quiet. Many in the audience shouted their agreement.

"You're asked by the core of the party to please be quiet," Aven said. "Orly, you are disturbing the peace. And what kind of person are you? You were not invited. You didn't tell me you were coming, and yet you want to interrupt my meeting."

In response to Taitz's accusations, Dunn said he had never asked Florida officials to delete his voting record. He said they deleted his record because Florida law directs officials to delete the records of people who have not voted in two consecutive federal elections in the state.

Dunn also said that Taitz had revealed his home address and phone number in a YouTube video for her campaign. Nonetheless, he said he was happy to have the chance to address the ad's accusations.

"I'm actually OK with this, quite honestly," Dunn said. "I respect that she's here, because I believe that everyone has a constitutional right to run. I believe that it's in God's will that I have the opportunity to represent, for the Republican Party, the state of California."

Taitz, an Orange County resident, was fined in 2009 by U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land for filing numerous complaints and motions against President Obama without a reasonable basis, and for using the courts as a "platform for a political agenda disconnected from any legitimate cause of action." Taitz has also tried to promote theories that Obama was born in Kenya and does not hold a U.S. birth certificate.

Taitz's reputation led Tea Party members to uninvite her from a recent Tax Day Tea Party rally in Pleasanton, CA.