“Birther” Leader Runs for Secretary of State

Orly Taitz is known as the leader of the "birthers." She also likes the sound of Secretary of State Taitz.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters confirmed Wednesday that Taitz has qualified as a candidate for Secretary of State.

Taitz, an attorney, leads a movement that challenges President Barack Obama's citizenship. She has filed lawsuits claiming that Obama was not born in the United States.

At least three have been dismissed.

One lawsuit asked California's current Secretary of State Debra Bowen to investigate Obama's qualifications. Bowen is running for re-election.

Taitz told the OC Register that she's running "to clean up the fraud we all have seen in the 2008 election. It is important to bring legitimacy to elections. And I will be fighting to ensure the California corporations are not overburdened by regulations."

Taitz will challenge Republican Damon Dunn for the party nomination. Dunn is a former NFLer who resides in Irvine.

She's already filed complaints about her opponent, according to the Register.

Taitz is no stranger to rallying support, just not among members of the Hawai'i Department of Health. According to a report in the Honolulu Advertiser, the Hawai'i Department of Health still gets up to 50 requests per month for the president's birth certificate.

Here's another scoop from the Advertiser's Aug. 13, 1961 birth announcements: "Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, 6085 Kalanianaole Hwy., son, Aug. 4."

And, the rest is history... or so we thought.

Under Hawai'i law, birth certificates can only be issued to family members, legal guardians, representatives of a person's estate, or by court order or other legal purposes. The department has a page on its website that explains the situation.

A Democratic Hawai'i lawmaker also introduced two bills this week in an effort to reduce requests. One would make birth records available -- under strict conditions -- to people who do not currently have a right to view them. Another would allow government officials to simply ignore persistent requests.

"I believe he's born here. Most of Hawaii believes he's born here and it's not an issue here as it is with these mainland 'birthers,'" said Sen. Will Espero. "It probably would not end all of the controversy because I believe the people that are these 'birthers' have some other motives. Whatever you say or provide to these people, they will not be happy with anything."

Scroll down to watch not one, but two MSNBC anchors try to interview Taitz about the allegations.