( Matt Ortega )

It is startling to see so many Republican political neophytes that do not vote jump into statewide races in California. But a Republican’s candidacy for the state’s top election gig is the greatest of ironies.

Meg Whitman had a very public fight with the media over her paltry voting record. Carly Fiorina’s announcement op-ed in the Orange County Register opened with an apology about her lack of voting.

The latest is a former NFL player, Damon Dunn, that joined a field with two other Republicans vying for the party’s Secretary of State nomination. The San Francisco Chronicle reported last month that Dunn voted for the first and only time last May. He told the Contra Costa Times in late November:

He added, on the issue of his paltry voting record, that “if I can get past this voting issue, what do they have on me?”

Sounds like a challenge for California’s top Democratic researchers. Dunn is basically egging them on. Here’s something to get them started: Dunn, seeking the office that oversees the state’s voting systems, was unfamiliar with “black box voting.”

Dunn has a lot to learn about the secretary of state’s office and some of the key issues there.

He told The Chronicle he was unfamiliar with the controversy over “black-box voting” – the use of electronic voting machines that critics claimed were not secure and reliable. Bowen tightened regulations on such equipment in 2007.

And he had not heard of “motor voter,” the law signed by President Bill Clinton and assailed by some Republicans, that requires states to provide voter registration during driver’s license renewals or applications at the department of motor vehicles. Dunn said he supports the idea.

Dunn’s path to office is paved in ignorance. Dunn explicitly made an argument against incumbent Secretary of State Debra Bowen on racial lines, then denied he was doing it at all.

“I understand what it’s like to feel like as though my vote doesn’t count,” real estate developer and former NFL player Damon Dunn, of Irvine, said during a media blitz last week. “I have looked at (Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s) schedule. I have not seen her in Compton or Crenshaw. I can draw those people into the process because I have a similar background and a similar story.”

Taking it further, he said “there’s no reason for African-Americans to vote for Debra Bowen. Why would they vote for her? The secretary of state doesn’t handle entitlement programs or social issues. There’s no controversial issues, so what compelling reason do they have to vote for her?”

Dunn denies he’s making a racially based appeal.

“It’s not about race, it’s micro-targeting,” he said. “I feel I can connect with evangelicals and young people, too.”

Republicans didn’t seem to believe that during Barack Obama’s candidacy and his rhetoric never approached such racially tinged comments.

Tags: CA-SOS, Damon Dunn, Debra Bowen