Corrections department unaware of potential voter fraud

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008 | 1:05 p.m.

Sun coverage

Oct. 8 -- Fraud probe worries champions of black vote
Oct. 7 -- Las Vegas office raided in voter fraud probe

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ACORN Web site

As the investigation of voter registration applications continues, the Nevada Department of Corrections said today that it was unaware of any voter fraud when it asked a contractor to stop allowing inmates to work as canvassers.

The Corrections Department sent out a statement today that said on July 31 the department learned inmates from the Casa Grande Transitional Housing Facility in Las Vegas were conducting vote registrations.

The inmates, put to work through contractor Choices Group, were participating in a work release program that provides job development and placement services for the department's re-entry program.

The contractor had sent 59 inmates to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for registering voters.

"We immediately contacted the Choices Group and asked them to terminate all work release inmates working for the ACORN organization," the department's statement said.

Department officials then launched an internal investigation, but the secretary of state has taken it, said Suzanne Pardee, of the corrections department.

"At the time we were unaware of any potential issues with the ACORN organization or voter fraud," the statement said.

The Nevada Secretary of State's office, with the Attorney General's office, served a search warrant on ACORN's headquarters at 935 E. Sahara Ave. on Tuesday. Twenty boxes of documents and records and eight computers and hard drives were seized.

However, the investigation will not interfere with the upcoming Nov. 4 general election, Secretary of State Ross Miller said.

In July, the state with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office formed an Election Integrity Task Force to look into any allegations of questionable voter registration, voter fraud and intimidation.

No one has been arrested.

ACORN's interim chief organizer, Bertha Lewis, said after the raid that it had been "a stunt that serves no useful purpose other than [to] discredit our work registering Nevadans and distracting us from the important work ahead of getting every eligible vote to the polls."

ACORN representatives said they had met with election officials and a representative of the Secretary of State's office on July 17 and were later asked to provide a second copy of documents they had previously provided.

ACORN said it gave officials copies of 46 application packages, which involved 33 former canvassers.

Elections officials discovered names and addresses that did not exist in Nevada, names of the Dallas Cowboys football team and other irregularities.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By Acara

10/9/08 at 1:42 p.m.

Suggest removal

This does seem to many like a Republican stunt to discredit ACORN and bring into question votes. The law IS that all registering to vote MUST be turned into the election committee. The law is that even registration that might be fraudulent, for example Dallas Cowboy team names, by LAW would also be turned into the election office. ACORN has said it is their practice to flag these types of registrations. What I would like to see is a story of who first actually "flagged" these so called irregularities?
By neiman1

10/9/08 at 4:36 p.m.

Suggest removal

Let's see. Inmates registering voters in a swing state where Reid opposes locking anyone up and Obama voted against the Illinois State Budget because he wanted less for corrections department. That seems fair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46t_nryS...
By BillL

10/10/08 at 6:23 a.m.

Suggest removal

ACORN receives billions in taxpayer dollars and uses inmates. Not too hard to connect the dots. ACORN has had fraud cases in multiple states over the last 10+ years. In this election it is worse, one man claims they registered him 72 times over 18 months in Ohio-could be verified. Not projection look at the history.
Obama was a community organizer with ACORN, then he trained organizers for ACORN, then as an attorney he defended fraud and coercion cases for ACORN and his campaign paid $800,000 to ACORN to Get Out The Vote program. How is this any a Republican issue. Fraud threatens our system of 1 person 1 vote.
It is also extremely racist to imply that poor and minority aren't smart or motivated enough to register like other voters and that they need pushed by ACORN!
By tokaloshe

10/11/08 at 7:10 a.m.

Suggest removal

whenever there is a problem some of us cling to guns and religion others cling to blaming bush.
By stown

10/11/08 at 9:20 a.m.

Suggest removal

The Corrections Department did not do anything on this until it was exposed. Gov. Gibbons needs to hold the Corrections Department responsible for allowing inmates to venture into criminal activity knowingly knowing they were employed there for months. Its not like the started anything. When is this Gov. going to hold someone responsible. This is a crime allowing inmates to be involved in voter fraud.
By halfner

10/16/08 at 10:07 p.m.

Suggest removal

What did the inmates do wrong? Did any of them COMMIT a crime other then trying to work to support themselves and their families... and for that the DOC said "fire them"... hum.. no job, no money, getting fired for doing nothing wrong... and we wonder why they end up back in prison. I think we should put some of our gov't officials in prison because THEY are actually committing a crime by not following their own laws.!