Vegas ACORN offices raided in voter-fraud investigation

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvb0LfZQ5mY-X8PYSvYxTe3QGgdgD93LPR783

ACORN office in Vegas raided in voter-fraud probe

By OSKAR GARCIA – 17 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada state authorities are raiding the Las Vegas headquarters of an organization that works to get low-income people to vote.

A Nevada secretary of state's office spokesman said Tuesday that investigators are looking for evidence of voter fraud at the office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also called ACORN.

No one was at the ACORN office when state agents arrived with a search warrant and began carting records and documents away.

Secretary of State spokesman Bob Walsh says ACORN is accused of submitting multiple voter registrations with false and duplicate names.

The raid comes two months after state and federal authorities formed a task force to pursue election-fraud allegations in Nevada.

[shelshor]

What a surprise

[JoeChalupa]

That's it..I"m voting for McCain.!!

[boutons_]

let's see if there is a conviction.

this is Repug intimidation, pure and simple.

[JoeChalupa]

Doesn't mean fraud isn't happening. Both parties do it.

[Wild Cobra]

let's see if there is a conviction.

this is Repug intimidation, pure and simple.

There have already been scores of convictions of ACORN workers from the last two elections!

Oh that's right, the media doesn't report such things against democrat activist groups. It would only be news if they were a right wing group.

[Wild Cobra]

Doesn't mean fraud isn't happening. Both parties do it.
Yes, but I believe the conviction rate is about 20:1 democrat:republican. Most of them are from ACORN.

[boutons_]

dubya's politicized US attorneys witch-hunted Rove/neo-c*nts claim of "massive voter fraud" for years and found nothing.

otoh, the Repugs have intimidated blacks, hispanics, etc, caged voters, purged voter lists of legit voters, and stole the 2004 Ohio election.

[ChumpDumper]

Yes, but I believe the conviction rate is about 20:1 democrat:republican. Most of them are from ACORN.Are you just making statistics up out of spite?

[Shastafarian]

Yes, but I believe the conviction rate is about 20:1 democrat:republican. Most of them are from ACORN.

My God!

Where are you getting these numbers? WND?

[Wild Cobra]

Are you just making statistics up out of spite?

Chump, get a life. Get a dictionary. Learn the meaning of words. I said:


Yes, but I believe the conviction rate is about 20:1 democrat:republican. Most of them are from ACORN.

In no way does that claim that number as fact!

It gets very tiring to have fucking jerks like you twist what someone says. You should write for a liberal paper, or do liberal talk radio. The Lemmings would love you.

[Shastafarian]

In no way does that claim that number as fact!

It gets very tiring to have fucking jerks like you twist what someone says. You should write for a liberal paper, or do liberal talk radio. The Lemmings would love you.

Why do you believe it? Did a magic leprechaun come down from his rainbow and whisper it in your ear?

[ChumpDumper]

Chump, get a life. Get a dictionary. Learn the meaning of words. I said:


Yes, but I believe the conviction rate is about 20:1 democrat:republican. Most of them are from ACORN.

In no way does that claim that number as fact!
So what you believe should in no way be confused with actual facts.

I can't argue with that.

[MannyIsGod]

Perhaps you would be better served using what you know as opposed to what you believe when you're tossing around STATISTICS. Find a real statistic then come back and compare it to your number and see if tis remotely close.

[Crookshanks]

Ok - how's this for some facts! Anybody see a pattern here?

Recent Fraud

State Year Details
AR 1998 A contractor with ACORN-affiliated Project Vote was arrested for falsifying about 400 voter registration cards.

CO 2004 An ACORN employee admitted to forging signatures and registering three of her friends to vote 40 times.

2005 Two ex-ACORN employees were convicted in Denver of perjury for submitting false voter registrations.

FL 2004 A Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman said ACORN was “singled out” among suspected voter registration groups for a 2004 wage initiative because it was “the common thread” in the agency’s fraud investigations.

MI 2004 The Detroit Free Press reported that “overzealous or unscrupulous campaign workers in several Michigan counties are under investigation for voter-registration fraud, suspected of attempting to register nonexistent people or forging applications for already-registered voters.” ACORN-affiliate Project Vote was one of two groups suspected of turning in the documents.

MO 2007 Four ACORN employees were indicted in Kansas City for charges including identity theft and filing false registrations during the 2006 election.

2006 Eight ACORN employees in St. Louis were indicted on federal election fraud charges. Each of the eight faces up to five years in prison for forging signatures and submitting false information.

2003 Of 5,379 voter registration cards ACORN submitted in St. Louis, only 2,013 of those appeared to be valid. At least 1,000 are believed to be attempts to register voters illegally.

NC 2004 North Carolina officials investigated ACORN for submitting fake voter registration cards.

NM 2005 Four ACORN employees submitted as many as 3,000 potentially fraudulent signatures on the group’s Albuquerque ballot initiative. A local sheriff added: “It’s safe to say the forgery was widespread.”

2004 An ACORN employee registered a 13-year-old boy to vote. Citing this and other examples, New Mexico State Representative Joe Thompson stated that ACORN was “manufacturing voters” throughout New Mexico.

OH 2007 A man in Reynoldsburg was indicted on two felony counts of illegal voting and false registration, after being registered by ACORN to vote in two separate counties.

2004 A grand jury indicted a Columbus ACORN worker for submitting a false signature and false voter registration form. In Franklin County, two ACORN workers submitted what the director of the board of election supervisors called “blatantly false” forms. In Cuyahoga County, ACORN and its affiliate Project Vote submitted registration cards that had the highest rate of errors for any voter registration group.

MN 2004 During a traffic stop, police found more than 300 voter registration cards in the trunk of a former ACORN employee, who had violated a legal requirements that registration cards be submitted to the Secretary of State within 10 days of being filled out and signed.

PA 2008 An ACORN employee in West Reading, PA, was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison for identity theft and tampering with records. A second ACORN worker pleaded not guilty to the same charges and is free on $10,000 bail.

2004 Reading’s Director of Elections received calls from numerous individuals complaining that ACORN employees deliberately put inaccurate information on their voter registration forms. The Berks County director of elections said voter fraud was “absolutely out of hand,” and added: “Not only do we have unintentional duplication of voter registration but we have blatant duplicate voter registrations.” The Berks County deputy director of elections added that ACORN was under investigation by the Department of Justice.

TX 2004 ACORN turned in the voter registration form of David Young, who told reporters “The signature is not my signature. It’s not even close.” His social security number and date of birth were also incorrect.

VA 2005 In 2005, the Virginia State Board of Elections admonished Project Vote and ACORN for turning in a significant number of faulty voter registrations. An audit revealed that 83% of sampled registrations that were rejected for carrying false or questionable information were submitted by Project Vote. Many of these registrations carried social security numbers that exist for other people, listed non-existent or commercial addresses, or were for convicted felons in violation of state and federal election law.

In a letter to ACORN, the State Board of Elections reported that 56% of the voter registration applications ACORN turned in were ineligible. Further, a full 35% were not submitted in a timely manner, as required by law. The State Board of Elections also commented on what appeared to be evidence of intentional voter fraud. "Additionally,” they wrote, “information appears to have been altered on some applications where information given by the applicant in one color ink has been scratched through and re-entered in another color ink. Any alteration of a voter registration application is a Class 5 Felony in accordance with § 24.2-1009 of the Code of Virginia."

WA 2007 Three ACORN employees pleaded guilty, and four more were charged, in the worst case of voter registration fraud in Washington state history. More than 2,000 fraudulent voter registration cards were submitted by the group during a voter registration drive.

WI 2004 The district attorney’s office investigated seven voter registration applications Project Vote employees filed in the names of people who said the group never contacted them. Former Project Vote employee Robert Marquise Blakely told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had not met with any of the people whose voter registration applications he signed, “an apparent violation of state law,” according to the paper.

[Crookshanks]

Here's another news item:

More Milwaukee Voter Fraud... Name that Party?
By Warner Todd Huston (Bio | Archive)
September 1, 2008 - 01:48 ET

Milwaukee has discovered some more voter fraud with 10 more voter registration workers are being investigated by Wisconsin authorities. Fittingly, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered the story in its paper on August 29. Unfittingly, the Journal Sentinel forgot one, tiny aspect of the story... that the voter fraud was perpetrated by Democrats. In fact, one of the organizations, ACORN, is intimately linked with Barack Obama.

Milwaukee’s top election official said Thursday she plans to seek criminal investigations of 10 more voter registration workers, including two accused of offering gifts to sign up voters.

So, what we have here is an Old Media story about voter fraud where the salient fact that the fraud is being committed by Democrats and Democrat organizations is somehow absent from the story. What a surprise, eh?

Voter bribery, voter fraud, workers misrepresenting themselves with false driver's license numbers, fake Social Security numbers, there's lots of details in the story. Yet, the word Democrat never appears once in the story.

So, who was responsible for all this fraudulent registration?

All the workers were paid by two organizations running voter registration drives, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and the Community Voters Project. Overall, 37 of the suspect workers were on the ACORN payroll, 11 were paid by the voters project and it’s not clear who employed the other one.

For those of you unaware, ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is a far left group that is intimately linked with Barack Obama since his early days in the corrupt Chicago, Daley Democrat political machine. ACORN has given Obama much financial support over the last two decades. ACORN is also big on furthering the unAmerican thuggery of unions all across the nation. And that means they are strictly a Democrat organization... not that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wants anyone to know that.

So, what are the charges here?

Among the latest group, two ACORN workers are accused of offering pre-paid gasoline cards or restaurant gift cards to people in exchange for signing up to vote.

Edman said she wants Landgraf to look into whether the workers violated a state law that forbids offering cash or gifts to sway voters.

Eight voter project workers are suspected of making up information on voter applications, Edman said.

Among the workers previously referred to Landgraf, two are accused of submitting cards for dead voters.

Others appear to have submitted cards for people who said they never filled out an application or who were already registered, signed cards themselves, or falsified driver’s license numbers.

That's quite a laundry list. And, realize, this sort of Democrat fraud is happening all across the country in every major city. And it's all perpetrated by Democrats. Someone should pass this info on to the Journal Sentinel.

[ChumpDumper]

That's quite a laundry list. And, realize, this sort of Democrat fraud is happening all across the country in every major city. And it's all perpetrated by Democrats.:lmao

[ChumpDumper]

Mistakes and lapses in enforcing voting and registration rules routinely occur in elections, allowing thousands of ineligible voters to go to the polls. But the federal cases provide little evidence of widespread, organized fraud, prosecutors and election law experts said.

“There was nothing that we uncovered that suggested some sort of concerted effort to tilt the election,” Richard G. Frohling, an assistant United States attorney in Milwaukee, said.

Richard L. Hasen, an expert in election law at the Loyola Law School, agreed, saying: “If they found a single case of a conspiracy to affect the outcome of a Congressional election or a statewide election, that would be significant. But what we see is isolated, small-scale activities that often have not shown any kind of criminal intent.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/washington/12fraud.html?pagewanted=all

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I love how many of you are citing the lack of media coverage, but then I take a look at your sources of information and laugh.

[George Gervin's Afro]

There have already been scores of convictions of ACORN workers from the last two elections!

Oh that's right, the media doesn't report such things against democrat activist groups. It would only be news if they were a right wing group.

PROVE IT! POST THE STORIES TO BACK THIS UP

[ChumpDumper]

Really, there have been 40+ convictions of ACORN workers from the last two elections?

[George Gervin's Afro]

One year after the contentious 2004 election, it is clear that politically motivated law firms and organizations leveled unfounded allegations of fraud against ACORN with the goal of tarnishing the community group’s reputation and inhibiting its work. In recent months, three highly publicized legal challenges brought against ACORN staff have been dismissed or withdrawn for lack of evidence. In Ohio, a lawsuit funded by the conservative Free Enterprise Coalition and litigated by the law firm of Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick collapsed on October 28. Two Florida lawsuits, based solely on claims by convicted felon and ex-ACORN employee Mac Start and litigated by Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Adler of Fort Lauderdale, were dismissed with prejudice. Stuart admitted to making false statements against ACORN.

“This outcome is vindication for our dedicated staff and volunteers who worked around the clock in the 2004 election to make sure the voices of low-income Americans were heard,” said Tamecka Pierce of ACORN. “The conservative groups who leveled false charges should be held accountable – this kind of harassment is clearly designed to intimidate community groups who register people of color.”

Further, criminal investigations responding to allegations of voter fraud recently ended in Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida, and Ohio after finding no evidence of wrongdoing by ACORN or any pervasive voter fraud. In Wisconsin, U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic, a Republican appointed by President Bush in 2004, concluded, “We don’t see a massive conspiracy to alter the election in Milwaukee, one way or another.” In Ohio, a year-long federal, state, and local investigation ended with no federal indictments. “Our investigation is closed. No one was charged…the federal investigation is closed,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Edwards in Cleveland.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1214-09.htm


http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=8540&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=18427&tx_ttnews[backPid]=8359&cHash=eed3218d29

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

There have already been scores of convictions of ACORN workers from the last two elections!

Oh that's right, the media doesn't report such things against democrat activist groups. It would only be news if they were a right wing group.

Fucking media bias. (http://spurstalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2811547&postcount=1)

[George Gervin's Afro]

Really, there have been 40+ convictions of ACORN workers from the last two elections?

why won't he post his sources? That would get a lot of people to shut up if he did.

[Wild Cobra]

Why do you believe it? Did a magic leprechaun come down from his rainbow and whisper it in your ear?
Wiki on ACORN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Community_Organizations_for_Reform_ Now#ACORN_and_Voter_Registration_Fraud) has a list of indictments and convictions. I think this list is incomplete:


In some locations, ACORN employees have submitted false voter registration forms rather than obtaining registrations from actual eligible voters.

* In Ohio in 2004, four ACORN employees were indicted by a federal grand jury for submitting false voter registration forms.[18][19]
* In January 2005 two Colorado ACORN workers were sentenced to community service for submitting false voter registrations.[20] ACORN's regional director said, "we find it abhorrent and do everything we can to prevent it from happening."[21]
* On November 1, 2006, four part-time ACORN employees were indicted in Kansas City, Missouri for voter registration fraud. Prosecutors said the indictments are part of a national investigation.[22] ACORN said in a press release that it is in part responsible in these individuals being caught, has fired them, and has cooperated and publicly supported efforts to look into the validity of the allegations.[23]
* ACORN was investigated in 2006 for submitting false voter registrations in St. Louis, Missouri. 1,492 fraudulent voter registrations were identified.[24][25]
* In 2007, five Washington state ACORN workers were sentenced to jail time.[26] ACORN agreed to pay King County $25 000 for its investigative costs and acknowledged that the national organization could be subject to criminal prosecution if fraud occurs again. According to King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, the misconduct was done "as an easy way to get paid [by ACORN], not as an attempt to influence the outcome of elections."[27][28]
* In 2008, the Michigan Secretary of State office told the Detroit Free Press that ACORN had been submitting a sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications to vote.[29]

There have also been sevarel convictions and incidents related to intimidation. Theft of computers from RNC locations, tire slashings, etc.

I have seen a post 2004 study on Ohio Election Fraud (http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/ohio_electionreport.1.pdf) that I think lists more convictions: I didn't re-read it.

Interesting stuff on ACT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Coming_Together). An exapmle of illegal activity outside of fraud and intimidation. FEC To Collect $775,000 Civil Penalty From America Coming Together (http://www.fec.gov/press/press2007/20070829act.shtml), first paragraph:


WASHINGTON –The Federal Election Commission (FEC/Commission) announced today that it has reached a settlement with America Coming Together (ACT) regarding violations of federal campaign finance laws during the 2004 Presidential election. ACT, a federal political action committee (PAC) that also has a non-federal account registered under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, agreed to pay $775,000 to settle charges that it used funds raised outside federal limits and source prohibitions to pay for expenses that should have been paid with funds raised within the federal contribution limits and prohibitions. This settlement represents the third largest civil penalty in an enforcement matter in the Commission’s thirty-three year history. The Commission unanimously approved the conciliation agreement.

A funny thing happened to a website that listed ACORN's, ACT's, and NAACP illegal activites during the 2004 elections.

ACORN now has that domain name, AC4VR! (http://ac4vr.com/index.php?id=5) All the links are gone that I have archived. No longer are all the materials available. Her is the article I was looking for from the Fox website, but it's missing all the exhibits that get specific. At least I have them archived. Hundreds of pages of legal stuff, now missing from theweb probably. Here is the Fox link:

VOTE FRAUD, INTIMIDATION & SUPPRESSION IN THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION (http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Vote_Fraud_Intimidation_Suppression_2004_Pres_Elec tion_v2.pdf)

Here is the stuff I have archived but don't know were to find on the internet, and am not searhing for. Page 73-74 of the link:


Index Of Exhibits
A. Kerry-Edwards/DNC “Colorado Election Day Manual: A Detailed Guide To Voting In Colorado,” November 2004

B. Letter From John Tanner, Chief Of Voting Section Of U.S. Department Of Justice’s Civil
Rights Division, To Franklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Nick A. Soulas, Jr., June 29, 2005

C. Curington v. Richardson, Jefferson Circuit Court, Case No. 03CI9552 (November 4, 2003 Order).

D. Spencer v. Blackwell, et al., United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Case No. C-1-04-738 (April 28, 2005 Order).

E. Milwaukee Tire Slashing Criminal Complaint

F. Ohio Republican Party v. Marion County Democratic Party et al., Marion County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 04 CV 0791.

G. November 2, 2004 Order on Motion for Temporary Injunction, J. Thomas Monk, and All Those Persons Similarly Situated Throughout the State of Florida v. Democratic National Committee, Democratic Executive Committee of Seminole County, and the Florida Democratic Party, 04-CA-2312-16-L.

H. DNC’s “IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE” Distributed To Republican Poll Observers In Florida

I. Democratic National Committee, et al. v. J. Thomas Monk, District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida Fifth District, Case No. 5D04-3642.

J. Transcript Of Pre-Recorded Telephone Call By DNC General Counsel Joe Sandler

K. Timms et al. v. MoveOn.org, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 04 CVH11 011533.

L. Metzger v. Doe, Lucas County Common Pleas Court, Case No. 04-1540.

M. The Reality Of Intimidation, Eric Wang, Op-Ed, THE [UVA] CAVALIER DAILY, http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVarticle.asp?ID=21349&pid=1216, November 10, 2004

N. Police Reports, Philadelphia Police Department, November 2, 2004

O. Moss v. Bush, Ohio Supreme Court, Case No. 04-2088.

P. Florida ACORN, “Floridians For All: Campaign Plan For A November 2004 Minimum Wage Constitutional Amendment Initiative,” October 1, 2003

Q. Depositions Of ACORN-Associated Individuals In Mac Stuart Case

R. Democrat Victory 2004 Florida Coordinated Campaign Plan, “Florida Victory 2004,” September 3, 2004

S. The Center For Ethics And The Free Market, Laying The Groundwork: A Study Of Voter Registration In Missouri, www.centerforethics.org, June 2004

T. State v. Staton, Defiance County Court Case No. 04-CR-09070.

U. Preliminary Findings Of Joint Task Force Investigating Possible Election Fraud, May 10, 2005

Is there any FACTUAL comprehensive list against republicans?

[ChumpDumper]

So 11 > 40.

Is that a fact or do you just believe 11 > 40?

[Wild Cobra]

So 11 > 40.

Is that a fact or do you just believe 11 > 40?

I'm not about to look up every case. There are several more. I'm sure that list is incomplete. The fact is that more illegal activities are done by democrat operatives than republican operatives.

I will say it is possible I was wrong of the number convicted, but do the research and show me the statistics between democrat and republican if it's soimportant to you.

[ChumpDumper]

It's important for you to back up your claims.

And I have no doubt there are more cases against Democrats than Republicans -- look who is in charge of the executive branch. Some of the US District Attorneys were fired because they refused to prosecute election fraud cases they found to be without merit.


I will say it is possible I was wrong of the number convicted, You are wrong quote often, so often we can only conclude you do it intentionally. You have a reputation as a liar. If it's not important to you then by all means, keep lying. We'll just keep pointing out your lies.

[Wild Cobra]

You are wrong quote often, so often we can only conclude you do it intentionally. You have a reputation as a liar. If it's not important to you then by all means, keep lying. We'll just keep pointing out your lies.
I'm sorry you think so. The fact I do not always source my material does not make me a liar. Neither does being wrong on occation.

You, however, have a reputation of being a total jack-ass.

[ChumpDumper]

Yes, you have a reputation for making shit up and willfully exaggerating.

In other words, lying.

And whining when you are caught lying -- I almost left that out.

[boutons_]

"The fact is that more illegal activities are done by democrat operatives than republican operatives."

a fact to you, it's your opinion to everybody else.

[Wild Cobra]

Yes, you have a reputation for making shit up and willfully exaggerating.

In other words, lying.

And whining when you are caught lying -- I almost left that out.

Well then by all means, start a thread titled "Wild Cobra's Lies" and point them out. You have my permission, and I will participate as long as we stop polluting other threads.

[ChumpDumper]

I'll stick to pointing them out in each thread when you lie. You are the one polluting the threads with your lies. Stop lying and I won't be able to point out your lies.

[Wild Cobra]

I found an Archive Site with all the ACVR material:

ACVR Archive Home Page (http://web.archive.org/web/20060209215751/www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/default.html)

[Wild Cobra]

From the Department of Justice (http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/July/08-crt-585.html):


Criminal Division Record on Voting Fraud:

The Criminal Division and the Department's 93 U.S. Attorneys Offices enforce laws that prohibit the following: voter intimidation; voting by ineligible individuals; vote buying; destruction of valid ballots or registrations; fraud related to counting more votes then registered voters; altering vote tallies; voting in multiple counties; abuse of absentee ballots; malfeasance by election officials; the disappearance of ballot boxes; furnishing fraudulent voter registration forms to election registrars; and forging the names of voters on absentee ballot materials.

* Since the Attorney General’s Ballot Access and voting Integrity Initiative was launched in 2002, over 140 individuals have been charged with election fraud offenses. Over 100 people have been convicted of voter fraud in that time frame.

* Over 360 election fraud investigations have been started since the initiative began in 2002. There are now approximately 90 investigations ongoing throughout the co

I haven't yet found a breakdown by activity, but that quite a bit. Over 100 convictions. Anyone care to help me research how many are republican pundits vs. democrat pundits? How many were from ACORN operatives?

[Wild Cobra]

I'll stick to pointing them out in each thread when you lie. You are the one polluting the threads with your lies. Stop lying and I won't be able to point out your lies.
You're just not able to back up your slander.

[ChumpDumper]

You're just not able to back up your slander.Your backtracking and whining after your lies are exposed are all that is needed.

I know you have a big, fragile ego -- but you don't deserve your own thread just because you lie all the time.

[Wild Cobra]

Your backtracking and whining is all that is needed.

I know you have a big, fragile ego -- but you don't deserve your own thread just because you lie all the time.
I'm just tired of polluting threads with your petty dislikes of me. I'm done with you here. Please stay on topic, or start a new thread.

[ChumpDumper]

I'm just tired of polluting threads with your petty dislikes of me. I'm done with you here. Please stay on topic, or start a new thread.You lied about the topic, and I pointed out your lie about the topic.

I will dislike you much less if you ever stop lying. Catch a clue.

[MannyIsGod]

Chump v WC >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Chump v Whottt

[shelshor]

So are ACORN workers Cowboys fans?

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/10/acorn-office-ra.html

ACORN office raided in Las Vegas in voter-fraud probe
Nevada authorities have raided the Las Vegas office of the community-organizing group ACORN seeking evidence of voter fraud.

Investigators seized records and computers from ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The office was unstaffed at the time.

Secretary of State Ross Miller said fraudulent registrations included forms for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.

"Tony Romo is not registered to vote in the state of Nevada, and anybody trying to pose as Terrell Owens won't be able to cast a ballot on Nov. 4," Miller said, according to the Associated Press. He said others used false names or information, or had duplicated information on multiple forms.

Here's the news release from Miller's office.

In a response posted on its Web site, ACORN said that it has forwarded suspicious registrations to election officials during the past year but they "routinely ignored this information and failed to act. " After a July meeting, Clark County elections officials "asked us to provide them with a second copy of what we had previously provided to them. ACORN responded by giving election officials copies of 46 'problem application packages,' which involved 33 former canvassers."

The Las Vegas Sun has the story, as does FOX News.

And a really high opinion of the recruits
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5984327&page=1
Voter Fraud? Officials Raise Concerns About Thousands of Suspicious Voter Registrations
Group Facing Probe in Nevada Has Had Past Problems
A nationwide voter registration drive that has registered some 1.3 million voters this year is facing new allegations of local canvasser fraud and complaints about its practices.

As citizens registered to vote in record-breaking numbers across the country this week, local election officials raised concerns about thousands of suspicious voter registration cards collected by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, commonly known as ACORN. The group, along with its partner Project Vote, operates one of the nation's largest voter registration drives focusing mostly on low-income African-Americans and Latinos.

The most recent allegations emerged yesterday after Nevada authorities raided the group's Las Vegas offices. Authorities are investigating reports of fake or duplicate voter registrations submitted by ACORN, including some using the names of Dallas Cowboys football players.

Investigators have alleged that ACORN hired 59 inmates on work release as canvassers. One inmate who had worked as a "team leader" for ACORN told investigators that "some of the canvassers hired by ACORN were 'lazy crackheads' who were not interested in working and just wanted money," according to the search warrant affidavit.

ACORN and Project Vote say they have been fully cooperating with investigators and called yesterday's raid a "stunt" designed to discredit the groups' work in registering more than 80,000 Nevadans. Mike Slater, the executive director for Project Vote, says the group regularly reported concerns about potentially fraudulent applications to county election officials who ignored the information for months.

Since June, local election officials in at least nine other states have reported problems with thousands of registrations submitted by ACORN's this election year, according to media reports.

Earlier in the week, election officials in Lake County, IN reported that nearly half of the 2,040 registrations submitted by ACORN on county's final day of registration were deemed "suspicious" because of missing or incorrect information or other irregularities.

Fake Voter Registration Cards
Sally LaSota, the director of the Lake County elections board, said information on some of the registration cards appeared to have been copied from the telephone book. LaSota says her employees have also identified more than 100 cards with forged signatures.

"We don't know if any of these people are legitimate," said LaSota, who is concerned that many legitimate voters may be unable to vote due to the high volume of problematic registration dumped on their office at the very last minute.

On the campus of University of New Mexico, College Democrats sought to have ACORN kicked off campus after receiving "dismal" reports about the group practices according to the campus newspaper, Daily Lobo.

In Bernalillo County, which encompasses Albuquerque and UNM, election officials have reported 1,400 "problem cards," many of which were collected by ACORN, to local and federal law enforcement authorities. Maggie Toulouse Oliver, the county clerk, said that some of the irregularities included cards with addresses that did not exist and duplicate registrations for voters with inaccurate information.

Charles Jackson, a spokesperson for ACORN, said the number of problematic registrations were "relatively low" considering that 1.3 million voter registrations collected by the group this year. "You have these isolated incidents that people seem to amplify and make a bigger deal that it really is," said Jackson.

ACORN has touted its success in collecting nearly 3 million voter registrations since 2004, but the group's track record has been marred with allegations of voter registration fraud and the criminal prosecutions of employees caught tampering and falsifying registration cards.

Last year, King County prosecutors in Washington state brought felony charges against seven ACORN canvassers in what one official described as the worst case of voter registration fraud in the state's history. Some OF the workers pled guilty and went to jail, while the ACORN agreed to pay the county $25,000 and have its activities monitored by authorities as a part of a settlement.

ACORN: New Quality Control
ACORN says that it has worked to clean up its act by adopting new "quality control" standards, including procedures to double-check all registrations and flag any questionable or incomplete cards for officials. "We pay people to do a job and sometimes they don't do it," said Jackson. "They turn in cards that are not complete, turn in cards that they have tampered with, and so we have a program in place to catch those types of things."

Jackson added that the group has a policy of firing any employee it finds tampering with registrations, and referring those former employees for criminal prosecution.

ACORN's past problems and liberal leanings have made the group a frequent target of Republican attacks. "It is clear that ACORN is engaging in an effort to try and take away from our election system by submitting thousands of forms that are unusable on county clerks place the burden on them," said Republican National Committee spokesperson Danny Diaz in a conference call with reporters yesterday.

Diaz cited the recent incidents to accuse ACORN of perpetrating "systemic voter fraud."

Jackson says there is no evidence of ACORN registrations being used to cast fraudulent votes. "Our goal is to empower low-income people," said Jackson. "In no way, shape, or form do we want to tamper with the electoral process, we'd have nothing to gain from that."

[ChumpDumper]

So it sounds more like ACORN in LV hires some lazy people who would rather make fake cards than work in the heat actually register voters. It doesn't look like some dastardly plan to have people pose as the Dallas Cowboys to vote.

[ashbeeigh]

I won't defend who ended up registering people to vote, hiring criminals is shady, but there is a quality control process in place. This is how it goes:

So everyone goes out to register people to vote in these low to moderate income neighborhoods because that's where ACORN is. Cards get verified by other ACORN employees through return phone calls and checking social security numbers. If they can't be verified or look suspusious they get "flagged" and because it's required by law are sent to elections officials. Cards are tracked through serial numbers so officials and groups known to have registered the fraudulent voter can be found. At this point the people that turn in these cards then get fired and get charged with voter fraud. Obviously lots of cards in ACORN's hands have fallen through these cracks, but it's not like ACORN just turns them in and says "Here are 20000000000 good cards! We're so successful!" There is a system.

[boutons_]

Repugs raided another Acorn office in Missouri.

dubya's got his politicized DoJ/FBI all over the case. (however, Alberto Gonzalez not been seen, but his spirit lingers over the case)

[ElNono]

Wasn't the FBI investigating the bailed out companies?
Nothing happened out of that?