ACORN

Why would the GOP go after ACORN?  Simple: they’re losing and they want to de-legitimize the election in advance.  They want to create doubt ahead of time.  John McCain knows better, but he’s carrying that swamp water, too.

The sensational TV reports you’ve seen leave out one important detail: the fraud was against ACORN, not against the election. It was a few employees trying to get paid for more registrations than they actually did.  (There are slackers in every organization.) ACORN spotted the fraud, flagged it as such, and turned it over to the authorities in accordance with the rules.  Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings has the whole story in detail.  Short version:

  • The number of fraudulent applications was wildly exaggerated
  • All voter registration cards, valid or not, must be turned in.  ACORN tagged the ones they found “problematic” and fired dishonest canvassers.
  • All registrations must then be vetted by election officials’ screening.  The guy who filled out 73 cards for himself, for example, wouldn’t have a chance.  Nor would Micky Mouse.
  • Any fraudulant registration that did slip through would have no effect unless an actual person showed up to vote under that name.  And in many cases, they’d have to show ID, risking a felony.  And it would have to happen thousands of times to have an effect.
  • And finally, when ACORN signs up a voter, they really don’t know how that person will vote.

The GOP tries to discredit ACORN every election cycle.  The last thing they want is poor people voting. If you wanna talk about election fraud, look at voter roll purges and polling complications.  And read Blogula Raisa’s Now THIS is voter registration fraud.

Updates:

Posted by George on 10/21/08 at 09:26 PM
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