Does Voter Fraud From ACORN Grow?
The Latest On Investigation Into Voter Registration Activities Of Non-Profit Organization
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ACORN Spokesman Kevin Whelan at a press conference in Washington D.C. defending the group’s voter registration practices. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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Voter Fraud Raises Concern
A group that focuses on registering minority voters is under investigation for possible voter fraud. The allegations are raising concerns about the election's fairness. Armen Keteyian reports.
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Voter Registration Fraud Raid
"CBS News RAW:" Nev. investigators raided the state headquarters of ACORN, an organization that advocates for low and moderate income families, on suspicion of voter registration fraud.
As questions about fraudulent voter registrations at ACORN offices grow nationwide, the organization today defended its efforts to sign up 1.3 million people, a record number of new voters for the upcoming presidential election. CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent, Armen Keteyian reported on the growing allegations last week.
“That there can be errors in the process we freely admit that, but we are fiercely patriotic. The voter franchise was bought in blood,” said Reverend Gloria Swierenga, director of Maryland ACORN, invoking the names of civil rights workers who died for voting rights in the 1960's.
ACORN officials say after they collect new voter registrations they verify them and then red flag any suspicious applications before they turn them over to election officials across the country. They say they are bound by law not to throw the applications away no matter how absurd the applicants, be they Mickey Mouse or the names of Dallas Cowboy football players. One former election official who spoke on behalf of ACORN said it would be highly inappropriate for outside organizations to judge the validity of voter applications.
But when asked what percentage of the 1.3 million registrations were red flagged, the organization did not know. Kevin Whelan, one of the ACORN employees who runs the voter registration program said he would follow up later with a response, “You know I don’t want to give a number that I can’t back up, I will get the most exact information to date…it’s a very small minority.” Later Whelan followed up to say that ACORN believes the error rate is less than 1%.
Earlier this morning, former senators John Danforth and Warren Rudman who are affiliated with the McCain campaign held a press conference on ACORN voter fraud but refused to let ACORN officials attend according to ACORN employees.
The McCain campaign continued to hammer Obama for his connections to the community based organization. On the Rush Limbaugh show, Sarah Palin said, “Let’s talk quickly about ACORN and the unconscionable situation that we are facing right now with voter fraud, given the ties between Obama and ACORN and the money his campaign has sent them...for shame if the mainstream media were to cover this one up.”
Meanwhile ACORN released video of John McCain speaking at a 2006 rally in Florida on immigration reform that was sponsored by ACORN.
In the video McCain praises the room full of activists who are shouting in Spanish, "Yes we can," which has now become a rallying cry for Obama's campaign. McCain tells the group to loud applause, "What makes America special is what's in this room tonight."
“He was quite friendly to our ACORN members at that rally, so we just assumed he was a friend of ours before he decided he wasn’t, " said Steve Kest National Director of ACORN,
To punctuate the point, ACORN put out a press release with the headline, “ACORN to McCain: Have You Lost That Loving Feeling?”
By Laura Strickler
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See all 81 CommentsFarrakhan''s messiah worked for Acorn at one point.
Turn your d**n tv off. I have.
What a bald-faced lie!
In Houston, they estimate 40% of ACORN''s registrations are fraudulent!
In Ohio, ACORN paid a teen with cigarettes and dollar bills to fill out 73 voter registrations.
And it goes on and on.
If fraud has been perpetrated, it has been fraud committed against ACORN. They pay people to sign up new voters. Do you really believe they would pay someone to copy names out of the phone book? Or do you think, just maybe, that for some it is easy money for little work to make up names to submit?
Palin and McCain have to try to stir the pot. It is all they have. Country first? ROFLMAO
Someone tell me, without rhetoric and empty threats, how CBS is biased by presenting this story..
Read THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE, it says allegations about fraud are spreading... Then, it says ACORN defended itself.
These are simple facts, you can decide what it all means..
So, WHERE is this bias?
News organixzations deal in facts, not opinions (except Fox of course).
Rush Li8mbaugh is a private talk-show host, a partisan by definition. This is an example of biased media.. EDITORIAL media: entertainment really.
Just an example..
So, where is the biased editorializing in this story?
Copy and paste it please.
..or shut up already, you people''s paranoia is astounding!!
You could say the very same thing about the Palin family''s connections with the Alaska First movement, a seperatist movement with militia-overtones..
These stories WERE reported: they just don''t mean SHIITE.
What''s so scandalous about Liberation Theology?
Have you read about it? Do you know what it is based on?
Personally, I dont give a FLYING SHIITE what people say or do in their stupid churches, it''s all for show anyway..
I''m sure the GOP will attempt to scare away potential voters (again) by threatening them they''ll be arrested (or worse) if they show up at the polls on election day.
They say they are bound by law not to throw the applications away no matter how absurd the applicants, be they Mickey Mouse or the names of Dallas Cowboy football players.
You have GOT to be kidding me!!! This is a friggin nightmare and a JOKE!
Yeah, he was your friend until he found out you were crooks. I guess he flip-flopped.
Here is what Obama has said.
"My relationship to ACORN is pretty straightforward. It''s probably 13 years ago when I was still practicing law, I represented ACORN and my partner in that representation was the U.S. Justice Department in having Illinois implement what was called the "motor voter" law, to make sure that people could go to DMVs and driver''s license facilities to get registered. It wasn''t being implemented. That was my relationship, and is my relationship to ACORN. THEY ARE NOT ADVISING OUR CAMPAIGN," Obama has said. "We''ve got the best voter registration and turnout and volunteer operation in politics right now and we don''t need ACORN''s help."
"This isn''t a situation where there''s actually people who are going to try to vote because these are phony names. ..Let''s just make sure everybody is voting, everybody''s registered. Let''s make sure that everybody''s doing it in a lawful way."
What''s wrong with that? The votes are state run. There must be ways to add your name to that database. And if not, then that is where your fight is.
"ACORN officials say after they collect new voter registrations they verify them and then red flag any suspicious applications before they turn them over to election officials across the country.
They say they are bound by law not to throw the applications away no matter how absurd the applicants, be they Mickey Mouse or the names of Dallas Cowboy football players.
You have GOT to be kidding me!!! This is a friggin nightmare and a JOKE!"
Having worked for the Government, and experiencing it''s bureaucracy, this doesn''t surprise me at all.
The Government sets the regulations/policies/procedures and they need to be followed - whether you like it or not.
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Posted by jefflz at 08:21 PM : Oct 14, 2008
$800,000 no need to say more.
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Posted by downsteamjim at 08:28 PM : Oct 14, 2008
And why did Obama try to slip money to them in the original bail-out bill. When the country was being hit with a $750 Billion tab? People he doesn''t know? That is an utter lie, or he appropreated funds for a group he knew little about. And the the Senate throws $150 Billion on top of the final bill? This is BS!
Why are people so shocked about ACORN? With George Soros and Planned Parenthood funding there''s enough in the coffers to buy plenty of votes and insure his ascension to power. Pray hard. Pray fast. Pray deep. This country and this world is in for a RADICAL CHANGE that we some will say Yes we can but no we shouldn''t. NObama. NOBiden NOMarx, NOSocialism NOWAY!
Republicans are lying fascists who try to blame ''the other guy'' for their criminal behavior......
Any info would be appreciated.
Obviously, some ACORN employees tried to up their income by submitting fake voter registration forms to ACORN. This doesn''t affect the vote process folks, since either ACORN or the Board of Elections will catch the erroneous registration forms. Mickey Mouse is hardly going to show up and vote. Ditto the Dallas Cowboys.
Please think for yourselves, and stop making the smoke and then screaming fire. Next???
Obviously, some ACORN employees tried to up their income by submitting fake voter registration forms to ACORN. This doesn''t affect the vote process folks, since either ACORN or the Board of Elections will catch the erroneous registration forms. Mickey Mouse is hardly going to show up and vote. Ditto the Dallas Cowboys.
Please think for yourselves, and stop making the smoke and then screaming fire. Next???
Posted by kassandrasdu at 08:27 PM : Oct 14, 2008
Evidently, you live with your head in the sand. How could you NOT see that the media is liberally biased? I''m okay with that, I can make my own decisions, and am not waiting for Obama to get elected for a "free ride". I work, pay taxes, pay my bills, etc. Obama DID work with and for Acorn. You can read it all over the place. If the tables were turned and it was McCain in this article, there would be hundreds upon hundreds of comments. Plain and simple. Call me what you will, I don''t care - I''m going to bed now because I have to WORK tomorrow. Oh, and I did you a favor...since you don''t know how to use spell-check, I redid McCain''s name for you, to show him the proper respect he deserves...and did NOT misspell Obama''s....I''m just a polite Republican like that. :)
Sweet Dreams!!! Heh he.....
Obviously, some ACORN employees tried to up their income by submitting fake voter registration forms to ACORN. This doesn''t affect the vote process folks, since either ACORN or the Board of Elections will catch the erroneous registration forms. Mickey Mouse is hardly going to show up and vote. Ditto the Dallas Cowboys.
Please think for yourselves, and stop making the smoke and then screaming fire. Next???
Obviously, some ACORN employees tried to up their income by submitting fake voter registration forms to ACORN. This doesn''t affect the vote process folks, since either ACORN or the Board of Elections will catch the erroneous registration forms. Mickey Mouse is hardly going to show up and vote. Ditto the Dallas Cowboys.
Please think for yourselves, and stop making the smoke and then screaming fire. Next???
Obama''s ACORN connection is from THIRTEEN years ago, when he was hired by them to be their attorney in a case to get the state of Illinois to let people register to vote when they get their driver''s license. Obama''s partner, co-counsel was the US attorney general''s Chicago attorney.
It seems like McCain''s praise in person to the entire membership, two years ago is more to the point than a person working for a law firm in private industry taking a case.
Hmmm? Looks like another nonsense song from McCain. Its the other guy BUT please ignore what I did more recently.
2. Obama''s "association" with ACORN was 13 years old, when he was their lawyer for one case. His Co-council in that case was THE US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT! Any "guilt by association" must therefore be applied to the US government as well. (But there is none.)
3. John McCain''s association with ACORN occurred just TWO YEARS AGO! All of you McCain supporters who are complaining about Obama and ACORN better set your sights on Johnny next! (McCain was the featured speaker at an ACORN event, and he praised them all to high heaven!)
Repugs have NOTHING but mindless distractions. They can''t run on the issues, since they''re on the wrong side of every issue. They can''t run on personality, since Johnny boy is a foul-tempered hot-head who nearly everyone in his own party hates.
What have they left to run on? I.G.N.O.R.A.N.C.E
McCain is counting on all of you to be ig.norant, to vote for him so he can continue Bush''s destruction of this country!
Don''t fall for the republican lies.
But MCCAIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACORN, AND MUCH MORE RECENTLY THAN ANYTHING THAT LINKS OBAMA WITH ACORN!!! Two years ago MCain was their featured speaker. And the reason you haven''t seen McCain''s connection spread all over the place is that the media IS NOT liberally biased, and because liberals are intelligent enough to know that this is a non-story, not voter fraud at all, and the only reason it has become a story is because McCain is using it to brainwash all you id.iots.
"These radicals"??? Who you talkin'' ''bout? Poor people, hired by ACORN to register new voters, cheat ACORN by writing in bogus names. ACORN discovers the bogus names and flags them. Later, county election remove them from the voter lists. At no time to any of the non-existent voters show up to vote. And the repugs use this as an excuse to purge hundreds of thousands of OTHER voters from the voting lists, preventing good citizens from exercising their constitutional right to vote. THAT is the real voter fraud, and it isn''t ACORN, and it isn''t "radicals"... it''s the republiSCUM machine, doing its best to rig the election!!!
The Obama campaign hired an affiliate of ACORN to do some canvassing during the primaries. That is NOT voter registration. That is NOT voter fraud. That is NOT some kind of illegal act. That is NOTHING to feel guilty about.
Yet somehow, to the very gullible, very afraid, insecure mindless little dweebs that make up the republican base, that''s "scary"! You repugs are simply id.iots!
2 years in power does not a financial disaster make. It was made over decades of cascaded deregulation with the final crowning cherry in 1999.
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