News Compass

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Allegations of Voter Fraud: ACORN's Defense

This week in Nevada, Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller led authorities to seize records from the local ACORN office, which Miller charged has submitted myriad fraudulent voter-registration forms, including those using duplicated information, false information, and forms filled out for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.Read here for more

PLEASE, Get Your Facts Straight On ACORN :

READ HERE FOR MORE

by TocqueDeville

It's bad enough having to endure the lies and disinformation emanating from the corporate news, right wing media, and the McCain campaign. But there's no excuse for people on Daily Kos to fall for it. Here are the facts.

From ACORN's memo:

Fact:
ACORN has implemented the most sophisticated quality-control system in the voter engagement field, but in almost every state we are required to turn in ALL completed applications, even the ones we know to be problematic.

ACORN can't not turn in bogus applications. They are legal documents, no matter who brings them in, and they are required by law to turn them in no matter what.

Fact:
ACORN flags incomplete, problem, or suspicious cards when we turn them in, but these warnings are often ignored by election officials.

Often these same officials then come back weeks or months later and accuse us of deliberately turning in phony cards.

Fact:
Our canvassers are paid by the hour, not by the card, so there is NO incentive for them to falsify cards.

ACORN has a zero-tolerance policy for deliberately falsifying registrations, and in the relatively rare cases where our internal quality controls have identified this happening we have fired the workers involved and turned them in to election officials and law-enforcement.

So who has an incentive to falsify cards? Republicans who wish to use this to suppress votes.

Fact:
Voter fraud by individuals is extremely rare, and incredibly difficult. There has never been a single proven case of anyone, anywhere, casting an illegal vote as a result of a phony voter registration. Even if someone wanted to influence the election this way, it would not work.

ACORN has registered over 1.3 million voters. Over 60% are people of color.

This is a horrifying development for Republicans and the McCain campaign.

And since no one has ever been proven to successfully cast an illegal vote as a result of phony voter registration, the rabid hysteria by the right wing over this issue can only mean one thing - cover for their own crimes to steal this election.

We all know the drill - cry registration fraud while systematically purging millions of voters from the voter rolls, throwing out votes in African American areas, running campaigns to suppress voter turnout through various deceptive and illegal means.

And the raid on the ACORN offices is undoubtedly a continuation of one of the US Attorney Gate scams, bogus prosecutions for the bogus voter fraud claim.(Voter fraud: not to be confused with election fraud)

I'm no Poblano. But my win-o-meter has never been wrong in a presidential election - until 2000 and 2004.

I have said for months now, if Obama loses this election, it will be because the Republicans stole it.

And now we are seeing how. Challenge all these new people who have joined the political process, and use that challenge to cover up their suppression of the vote - just like 2004.

What are the facts again? No one has ever been proven to successfully cast an illegal vote as a result of phony voter registration. Ever.

And ACORN is doing a damn good job.

When some individual abuses the system, ACORN has to by law turn in the bogus registrations.

And the final fact:
Republicans hate democracy.