ACORN

[Shawnee123]

suspect organization who continue to be accused of many illegal wrong doings

You mean, like, Republicans?

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

You mean, like, Republicans?

No, Demoncrats.

[Shawnee123]

Yabbut, my point is being "accused" of something means nothing. Look at all the stuff your boy Bush was "accused" of...the other party will always accuse, hoping something sticks.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Bottom line is they are suspect organization who continue to be accused of many illegal wrong doings and they are not worthy of further funding from public funds.

Bottom line is that is not how the system works....nor should it IMO.

We dont deny opportunities for federal funding to persons and/or organizations based on undocumented or unsubstantiated allegations and suspicions, even more so when for the most part, those allegations and suspicions are partisan in nature.

It would set a very dangerous precedent that could be used against organizations across the political spectrum in the future.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Yabbut, my point is being "accused" of something means nothing. Look at all the stuff your boy Bush was "accused" of...the other party will always accuse, hoping something sticks.

True Dat. But Bush ain't my "boy" and Obamay ain't my "boy" either. But there is no doubt that plenty of people have questionable ideas about how ACORN functions and those are currently under suspect by many state organizations. Until they are cleared should not get any of my money.

[TheMercenary]

From 2006:

allegations of fraud have tainted Acorn voter drives across the country. Acorn workers have been convicted in Wisconsin and Colorado, and investigations are still under way in Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

The good news for anyone who cares about voter integrity is that the Justice Department finally seems poised to connect these dots instead of dismissing such revelations as the work of a few yahoos. After the federal indictments were handed up in Kansas City this week, the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement that "This national investigation is very much ongoing."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editor...l?id=110009189


Republickin's and partisan?
May 2009:

May 5, 2009
Acorn Charged in Voter Registration Fraud Case in Nevada
By STEVE FRIESS
LAS VEGAS — A prominent antipoverty organization that drew criticism from Republicans during last year’s presidential race was charged by Nevada officials Monday with engaging in voter registration fraud.

Two former leaders of the group’s Nevada branch were also charged in connection with the submission of thousands of bogus voter registration forms.

The organization, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, is accused of paying canvassers only if they registered at least 20 voters per shift and providing bonuses of $5 for registering more than 21.

Under Nevada law, it is illegal to attach incentives to such work, in part because it encourages canvassers to submit fraudulent forms, Secretary of State Ross Miller said.

Acorn submitted 91,002 completed forms in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, of which 23,186 turned out to be valid new voters who voted in November, according to data provided by Mr. Miller’s office.

Mr. Miller investigated Acorn at the behest of the Clark County registrar of voters, Larry Lomax, who noted a high number of forms turned in featuring the names of famous football players and cartoon characters.

“This is not a case of voter fraud, it’s a case of voter registration fraud,” Mr. Miller said. “I’m very confident that none of these fraudulent voter forms found their way into the voter registration rolls or to cast votes.”

The indictment includes 13 counts each against Acorn and its former Las Vegas field director, Christopher Edwards, who is accused of creating an incentive program called “blackjack” because $5 was paid for signing more than 21 prospective voters.

Also indicted was Acorn’s former deputy regional director, Amy Busefink, on 13 counts of principle to the crime of compensation for registration of voters. Each charge carries a potential one- to four-year prison term and a $5,000 fine.

Acorn’s national spokesman, Scott Levenson, called the indictments “political grandstanding” by Mr. Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, both Democrats.

Mr. Levenson said Acorn had fired both employees and has cooperated with investigators.

“This is in complete violation of Acorn national policy, and to indict us is a clear case of blaming the victim,” Mr. Levenson said. “We had an errant employee who violated our policy and he was ordered to stop.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/us...gewanted=print

[TheMercenary]

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

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

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

CT 2008 The New York Post reported that ACORN submitted a voter registration card for a 7-year-old Bridgeport girl. Another 8,000 cards from the same city will be scrutinized for possible fraud.

FL 2008 Election officials in Brevard County have given prosecutors more than 23 suspect registrations from ACORN. The state's Division of Elections is also investigating complaints in Orange and Broward Counties.

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.

IN 2008 Election officials in Indiana have thrown out more than 4,000 ACORN-submitted voter registrations after finding they had identical handwriting and included the names of many deceased Indianans, and even the name of a fast food restaurant.

MI 2008 Clerks in Detroit found a "sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent [voter] applications" from the Michigan branch of ACORN. Those applications have been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's office for investigation.

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 2008 Nearly 400 ACORN-submitted registrations in Kansas City have been rejected due to duplication or fake information.

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.

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.

NC 2008 County elections officials have sent suspicious voter registration applications to the state Board of Elections. Many of the applications had similar or identical names, but with different addresses or dates of birth.

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

NM 2008 Prosecutors are investigating more than 1,100 ACORN-submitted voter registration cards after a county clerk found them to be fraudulent. Many of the cards included duplicate names and slightly altered personal information.

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.

NV 2009 Nevada authorities indicted ACORN on 26 counts of voter registration fraud and 13 counts of illegally compensating canvassers. ACORN provided a bonus compensation program called “Blackjack” or “21+” for any canvasser who registered more than 20 voters per shift, which is illegal under Nevada law.

2008 Nevada state authorities raided ACORN's Las Vegas headquarters as part of a task force investigation of election fraud. Fraudulent registrations included players from the Dallas Cowboys.

OH 2008 ACORN activists gave Ohio residents cash and cigarettes in exchange for filling out voter registration card, according to the New York Post. Some voters claim to have registered dozens of times, and one man says he signed up on 72 cards.

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.

PA 2009 Seven ACORN workers in the Pittsburgh area were indicted for submitting falsified voter registration forms. Six of the seven were also indicted for registering voters under an illegal quota system.

2008 State election officials have thrown out 57,435 voter registrations, the majority of which were submitted by ACORN. The registrations were thrown out after officials found "clearly fraudulent" signatures, vacant lots listed as addresses, and other signs of fraud.

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 2008 In Harris County, nearly 10,000 ACORN-submitted registrations were found to be invalid, including many with clearly fraudulent addresses or other personal information.

2008 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 2008 At least 33,000 ACORN-submitted registrations in Milwaukee have been called into question after it was found that the organizations had been using felons as registration workers, in violation of state election rules. Two people involved in the ongoing Wisconsin voter fraud investigation have been charged with felonies.

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.

http://www.rottenacorn.com/activityMap.html

[TheMercenary]

June 2009

ACORN Ohio Probe Underway, Illegal Voting Indictment Available
June 5th, 2009 by Matthew Vadum
I reported yesterday that ACORN is under investigation by authorities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The probe continues after Darnell Nash, who was registered to vote by ACORN, was indicted by a grand jury yesterday. The indictment is available here.

Ryan Miday, spokesman for Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor Bill Mason, a Democrat, spoke with me last night. Miday said an “investigation is continuing into activities by ACORN. Darnell Nash is the first we’ve charged in this ongoing investigation.”

“ACORN workers approached him to fill out voter registration cards and he did so on nine different occasions using different names and addresses, then he actually registered and voted on Sept. 30 and voted with a different address and the address was an address here in the Cleveland area in a suburb called Shaker Heights.”

Miday said that the Shaker Heights address is important because the person who actually lives there alerted the authorities after multiple registration acknowledgement documents came in the mail. Nash’s vote was then flagged and Nash came to the attention of the board of elections. It held an administrative board hearing and summoned Nash to appear but he failed to show up for the hearing.

“After the election ACORN had to turn over all its voter registration cards and those amounted to about 70,000,” Miday said. “The sheriff’s office in Cuyahoga County has been going through mounds of paperwork.”

“The activities by ACORN are being looked at. Through the investigation a number of employees of ACORN have been interviewed,” said Miday.

http://www.capitalresearch.org/blog/...ent-available/

[TheMercenary]

Sounds like those links blow the theory that this is some kind of partisan witch hunt...

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

But there is no doubt that plenty of people have questionable ideas about how ACORN functions...

Freudian slip, there.

[TheMercenary]

Eh, whateva. My point was made. They are corrupt.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Yabbut, my point is being "accused" of something means nothing. Look at all the stuff your boy Bush was "accused" of...the other party will always accuse, hoping something sticks.

Originally Posted by Redux

Bottom line is that is not how the system works....nor should it IMO.

We dont deny opportunities for federal funding to persons and/or organizations based on undocumented or unsubstantiated allegations and suspicions, even more so when for the most part, those allegations and suspicions are partisan in nature.

It would set a very dangerous precedent that could be used against organizations across the political spectrum in the future.

So I've heard.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

. . .the wing nuts

is a term that falls too easily from Redux's lips. Particularly in the sense, heavily implicit, of right-wing nuts. The great bulk of which are Republican- and Republic-friendly. And yes, the lunatic fringe needs trimming.

Unfortunately, he never understands there are sane right-wingers -- I'd think he'd've mentioned it if he ever had. There's always me, for one, though he'll protest that he has not necessarily seen sanity here. By a moment of free association, I'm going to steer clear of claiming saintliness (you can make saint of the letters in sanity. There are idiots to the right of me -- and smart guys there too. I stick with the smart ones.

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

is a term that falls too easily from Redux's lips.

Unlike the broad sweeping brush with which you paint anyone left of center?

I try to associate the "wing nut" characterization to specific words or actions I encounter. I slip sometimes and the brush goes outside the lines.

[classicman]

Ex-ACORN Las Vegas Director Pleads Guilty
Updated: Aug 19, 2009 2:02 PM EST

A former Las Vegas director for the political advocacy group ACORN has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and agreed to testify against the group and another employee.

Chief Deputy Nevada Attorney General Conrad Hafen said Wednesday that Christopher Edwards' plea deal strengthens a felony case against the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now and Amy Busefink, a former regional voter registration director.

They're accused of illegally paying canvassers to register voters during last year's presidential campaign. Edwards pleaded guilty this week to two counts of conspiracy to commit the crime of compensation for registration of voters.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 17. Hafen says the group had a local policy of paying bonuses to canvassers who signed up 21 or more new voters per shift.

I'm interested to see how this affects the charges/suspicions against ACORN. This could either get real interesting or get a deal cut real soon.