D's Nuts: ACORN's Legal Troubles And GOP Partisanship

"We don't want to see battleground states turn on ACORN," said Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager. "We want to make sure not of these states are stolen." (10/10)

During the primaries, Barack Obama's campaign paid $800,000 to a group called Citizens Services Inc., a subsidiary of ACORN, to help canvass voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. In those states, the campaign, according to Democrats familiar with the contract, wanted to augment what its grassroots teams were doing on the ground and had the financial wherewithal to do so. Initially, in their report to the Federal Election Commission, the Obama campaign misstated the reason for the disbursement; they later filed an amended report.

25 days before the election, these payments are now a perception problem for the Obama campaign. ACORN's last-minute surge of registration cards to election supervisors in more than a dozen states threatens to slow the processing of valid registrations. Though none of the fraudulent cards will result in any fraudulent votes being cast, ACORN's practices are, some Democrats working with the Obama campaign concede, unhelpful in that they create the appearance of bad doings, and they take the shine off the 99% of new registrations that are valid.Obama, as a community organizer, has come in contact with ACORN. ACORN is a mainstay of progressive umbrella groups like America Votes. But there is no evidence of a conspiracy, only of massive interest in a massively important election.

By trumping up ACORN's problems and by linking them to the Obama campaign, Republicans are building a foundation on top of which they can aggressively challenge voters on Election Day.

Democrats don't believe the Republican charges will lead to a national public outcry, but they're not going to ignore them.

Watch for a pushback to begin in the coming days.

Comments

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the Obama campaign paid $800,000 to get voters registered, and ACORN gave him a bunch of fraudulent registration cards for people who don't exist... then it sounds like Obama's the only one who's getting defrauded, not the electoral system.

Right?

Posted by Brownie | October 10, 2008 3:31 PM

Republicans are building a foundation on top of which they can aggressively challenge voters on Election Day.

It's becoming increasingly doubtful that the election will be close enough for this to be a meaningful possibility.

Republicans are doing this because they know they are going to lose, and they want to be able to spend the next 4 years ranting about how Obama didn't legitimately win.

Posted by Joe | October 10, 2008 3:36 PM

That is the mantra - ACORN, ACORN!

The problem is that ACORN got paid, and there is pressure to turn in results. This is why it's better to use volunteers that don't have quotas.

Posted by Siryn | October 10, 2008 3:38 PM

Best. Headline. Ever.

But seriously dude, if you know that the ACORN is all bull, why not just say so. It's only perception problem if reporters like you amplify bogus complaints.

Posted by g | October 10, 2008 3:45 PM

There is a MASSIVE difference between registering Donald Duck to vote, and going to a voting booth and voting illegally. The first is just stupid and useless, the second is a felony.

This is all just silliness by the Republicans who know that 2008 is like 1932 FDR vs. Hoover.

When Barack wins by 10% I doubt there are going to be many voter challenges by the Republicans for people voting under the name 'Donald Duck'.

This is a pathetic tactic by a pathetic party.

Posted by Dan | October 10, 2008 3:50 PM

Can the media please point out that in all states that I'm familiar with, voter registration cards MUST be turned in whether they are complete or incomplete. That's why registration groups themselves sort out the ones they suspect are fraudulent - because it's illegal to NOT turn them in. It's also why there is a surge at the deadline, because they all get turned in.

So, are fraudulent cards being turned in - yes, as required by law. Is the Registrar processing them? That's up to the Registrar, but I haven't seen anyone reporting that they are being processed, just turned in. The Registrar is required to process them if they aren't determined to be fraudulent, which takes some effort to investigate. Since these claims are coming right on the registration deadlines, I don't see how it's possible for even the ones that groups like ACORN have flagged as fraudulent to have been investigated yet.

This is the GOP attacking the process that virtually all states have (rightfully) set down and then using that process to smear whatever group they want. If the Registrar didn't accept all the cards, the GOP would be attacking ACORN for withholding cards for Republicans or white voters or whatever. It's too easy to game the media on a topic like this *unless the media figures out that they are being gamed and talk to SoSs rather than GOP (or Dem) lawyers*.

Posted by Martin | October 10, 2008 3:50 PM

hahahaha

Most hilariously and retardedly intelligent headline ever!

Posted by Troy | October 10, 2008 4:30 PM

That headline is beyond. Beyond!

Posted by Slow Clap | October 10, 2008 4:32 PM

I just got back from visiting my son at a college in Ohio. The Obama guys are doing a number of these kids. These kids actually think they can get away with voting in Ohio and Illinois or Misouri or Indiana. They have been fed this drivel by the Obama folks that there is no cross checking across state lines and there is no way they will get caught. It's sad that it has come to this.

I had to remind these kids that it is a felony..

Posted by As | October 10, 2008 4:34 PM

Just have to agree that the headline for this is amazing.

Posted by Miles | October 10, 2008 4:44 PM

They have been fed this drivel by the Obama folks that there is no cross checking across state lines and there is no way they will get caught. It's sad that it has come to this.

Is there an email address where I can reach you? I work for a state AG office (not one of the states listed), and I'm sure we would be eager to call our colleagues in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri to report these voting fraud efforts if you have actual names.

Posted by Joe | October 10, 2008 4:44 PM

Did not roll off the turnip cart yesterday. Post your email here and I will tell you where I was visiting and what the kids were saying. I am not going to open myself up to all sorts of rabid email.. Seen that sort of thing happen on other blogs..

Posted by AS | October 10, 2008 4:55 PM

bnf307 [at] hotmail [dot] com

I work in the section that represents the state SoS, but don't actually work on voting issues myself.

Posted by Joe | October 10, 2008 5:04 PM

How about simply stating the obvious? There is a difference between voter fraud and registration fraud. The latter -- and that's what ACORN is about -- has no impact, none, on the electoral process. And yet every two years we pretend the Republicans aren't lying when they mount yet another protest in this regard. Someone ought to tell Rick Davis that Mickey Mouse won't be voting any time soon.

This isn't about stopping the small number of bad signatures on those registration pages. This is about stopping ACORN from registering legit voters. In other words, just more of the same GOP voter suppression we see every two years.

It would be nice if the press would cast a somewhat less lenient eye on the fiction. Remember, faux objectivity in the face of truth and lie is de facto support for the lie.

Posted by Harley | October 10, 2008 5:11 PM

It is mostly ACORN that is being defrauded by any fraudulent registration cards turned in, since it is they who are paying their workers for them.

It is also mostly ACORN that is reporting these fraudulent registrations anyway, so I fail to how the Republicans have much of a case against them.

Of course, it is partisan politics and fear and loathing of anyone to the left of Genghis Khan that's driving this drivel. It's like they live in an alternate reality, or something.

Posted by tacitus | October 10, 2008 5:32 PM

That headline is freakin' hilarious! Major kudos.

Unfortunately, the GOP's attempts to push this non-story is pathetic. Why is this getting any coverage? It seems that every year, the GOP raises the specter of scary minorities and immigrants committing all manner of vote fraud, and the media actually runs with it. This despite the fact that, to put it charitably, their claims are grossly overstated. Or less charitably, that they're full of s--t.

It's just the standard attempt to scare everyone enough to push through unnecessary voting "reforms" to depress low-income and elderly votes that usually benefit Democrats. It's not Jim Crow, but when you're blaming minorities and immigrants, it's not too far from it.

Call it what it is: a bogus non-story from a campaign that seems bent not on winning, but on delegitimizing an Obama win as having been "stolen."

Posted by Johnny Gentle famous crooner | October 10, 2008 5:36 PM

Here's a pretty complete wrap-up of the ACORN non-story over at Talking Points Memo.

Money quote:

"The Justice Department devoted unprecedented resources to ferreting out fraud over five years and appears to have found not a single prosecutable case across the country. Of the many experts consulted, the only dissenter from that position was a representative of the now-evaporated American Center for Voting Rights."

Five years, with a DoJ known for abetting voter suppression, gutting the Voting Rights division, and hiring unqualified idealogues, and not one prosecutable case. Why do you think they fired US Attorney David Yglesias? Because he wouldn't take their bogus charges to court.

Posted by LFC | October 10, 2008 5:39 PM

What's vile here is that the people making these allegations are old political hands, and they know FULL WELL that the people getting the most screwed on false registrations are the organizations that pay for them.

Seriously, if you pay someone to register people in a neighborhood and instead they slack off with their buddies and turn in a bunch of fake forms, you're gonna have big problems when you try to actually turn out the vote on election day in that neighborhood!

If you've ever worked in GOTV or field, and you pay someone who lies to you about getting the job done--that's like the trifecta. You wasted time, money, and you got bad information.

And the people making these allegations KNOW that. They KNOW how bad this is, and who it's really bad for.

But if they lie and act all outraged instead, then they get to say the word "fake" and "voter" in the same sentence. So they do. Because if they lie, they can to perpetuate a myth that there's this vast conspiracy of poor people stealing elections.

They know better. They just don't care about telling the truth, and too many reporters are too ignorant to know the facts or too jaded to care.

Posted by anonymiss | October 10, 2008 6:53 PM

I have enjoyed the comments here. I am trying to get a handle on this. From what I have read, I understand that these fraudulent registrations will not lead to actual votes. That's a good thing. Here's the thing that concerns me. I have never seen anyone in my neighborhood going door to door for voter registration in 30 years. If I decide to start something up, where do I go for the free government funds? I figured since I only made $3,400 dollars last year and paid $7,300 in taxes as a small business owner, I could use the extra cash. I could make up some good names.

Posted by Liberty_Gazette | October 10, 2008 7:30 PM

For all you haters on student's voting in Ohio, you might want to read the law.

Here is a link to a law school professors page at Ohio State

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/ebook/part1/eligibility_rules06.html

or here http://www.brennancenter.org/studentvoting/states/ohio

Students can vote at their school address providing they do not vote at their parents home state as well.

It does not affect financial aid.

McCain is toast.

Posted by Andrew | October 10, 2008 8:41 PM

I don't get this. Wouldn't it be unlawful for ACORN to NOT turn in every registration someone filled out? And doesn't every voter reg effort have some weird cards filled out? And didn't this issue only get identified because ACORN responsibly flagged cards they thought were suspect?

So, what's the issue? Is ACORN not supposed to register any voters because at least 1 will be suspect? Should they not flag cards they think are suspect? When the Obama campaign says this "isn't helpful" how is ACORN's voter reg effort different from anyone else's???

Very confusing why this is an issue. Maybe the media should just say this is a fake issue and move on.

Posted by AG | October 13, 2008 6:04 PM