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twitterPredictable responses from both parties to the ACORN voter fraud controversy
Sun, Oct 12, 2008 (2 a.m.)
The Republicans, who have been running around for months like blind squirrels, believe they have found their ACORN. The Democrats, who have been trying to contain their enthusiasm, fret they have surrendered the moral high ground. And the light of substance, trying to peek through the massing political clouds a week before early voting begins, is being obscured.
The controversy surrounding the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, whose offices were raided last week after allegations of voter fraud had surfaced, has exposed shoddy oversight by the group (“You’re alive? You’re hired!”) and the state (which later was forced to acknowledge inmates had been hired to do jobs they are ineligible by law to do), ignited GOP frothing here and elsewhere and induced Democrats to avoid the reality that one of their allies has real problems.
As the Republican National Committee media operation spews out anti-ACORN news releases almost by the hour (“Look what they’ve done now. And Barack Obama loves them!”) and GOP pols seek to capitalize on the group’s alleged misdeeds, the real story is that while fraudulent acts were committed, the process remains relatively impregnable.
“People, because of what they read, think that it will affect the integrity of the elections,” Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax said Friday on “Face to Face.” “I am telling you it’s not true.”
Lomax explained that the fraudulent registrations were flagged and the probe was started, thus preventing thousands of ineligible voters from swelling the rolls. The registrar was blisteringly critical of ACORN, which he said would “register the same people 10 times in 10 days” and utilized “a pathetic, sham effort at quality control.” Lomax said ACORN probably turned in 20,000 fraudulent forms out of 90,000 or so.
ACORN regional boss Matthew Henderson, who put the bad registrations at 3 percent, said on the program that even though authorities had found that 59 inmates had worked registering voters, some of them convicted of identity theft crimes, the organization had hired 700 workers in Nevada. But, Lomax countered, during a meeting in his office, the group acknowledged having fired 400 workers.
“They seemed perfectly satisfied to hire people to commit this kind of activity and explain it away by saying they fired (the bad ones),” Lomax said. “That doesn’t stop the problem (of fraudulent registrations).”
Henderson insisted ACORN warns its canvassers they will be prosecuted if they commit fraud and blames the authorities for not cracking down when they provided officials with evidence over the summer. But Secretary of State Ross Miller indicated the ACORN self-reporting led to a more wide-ranging investigation.
None of this is surprising if you consider that ACORN pays the canvassers a pittance and is registering those who ordinarily might not vote. Henderson said ACORN had led a “historic drive” that has brought “black, Latino, working class people to participate in greater numbers than ever.”
But ACORN, by the nature of what it does, anticipated these problems. In a letter to Lomax dated Feb. 15, the group’s lawyer wrote, in part, “To the extent your office finds problematic cards that were not detected by ACORN’s quality control procedures, ACORN requests you notify ACORN staff immediately. ACORN will terminate any canvassers who are subsequently determined to have collected improper or illegal applications, and will cooperate as needed in any further investigation.” That is, get ready for some fraud.
It makes no sense, even for the most blindly partisan, that ACORN would set out to sully the rolls because of safeguards that would prevent ineligible voters from casting ballots. He won’t guarantee a few won’t slip onto the rolls, but, Lomax pointed out, this is simply what happens when a group pays workers to get registrations; it is inevitable.
Henderson insists there was no coordination between ACORN and the state Democratic Party or the Obama campaign — and both entities are running from ACORN like it has the Bubonic plague. The Republicans are just as predictable — Gov. Jim Gibbons and Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert immediately called for a photo ID requirement and then demanded county registrars tell them their training procedures.
There are nasty undercurrents here — as Henderson put it about those ACORN registered, “These are not people who go to the country club.” That is, many of the registrants are poor, uneducated and, yes, black — the kind of voters some Republicans would be happy to suppress.
Democrats in Nevada and elsewhere believe Obama will win because of superior registration numbers and ground organization. But if the election is close and the Republicans can generate enough smoke about fraud, using the ACORN kindling, they will shout “fire” in many crowded polling places.
Discussion: 35 comments so far…
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Jon write "The Democrats, who have been trying to contain their enthusiasm, fret they have surrendered the moral high ground."
Democrats = moral high ground
That the first time I have heard that Democrats want to claim the moral high ground.
Obama paid them 800,000 dollars, the congressional lobbyists keeps sneaking pork barrel funding for ACORN into different bills every year.
We can't wait for an investigation to find out what Democrats have done. The election is just a few days away.
Obama needs to lead an accounting for all the Congressional funds that have been siphoned through ACORN's various community organization groups.
What happened to accountability, transparency, traceability and the anti-lobbyist outcry.
"The Republicans, who have been running around for months like blind squirrels, believe they have found their ACORN"
You forgot to mention the 1 Million Dollar embezzlement recently discovered at ACORN. It seems the NY Times discovered the founders brother stole the money and the fact was hidden from it's Executive Board, employees & the public for the last 8 years.
Great use of taxpayer money and Obama's generous donation.
List of instances of Republican voter fraud from around the country.
California; party affiliation switched from Democrat to Republican without their knowledge 2008
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stori...
California; party affiliation switched from Democrat to Republican without their knowledge 2006
http://www.calelectionlaw.com/archives/2...
Louisiana; party affiliation switched from Democrat to Republican without their knowledge
http://www.nola.com/frontpage/t-p/index....
New Jersey; party affiliation switched from Democrat to Republican without their knowledge
http://www.northjersey.com/news/national...
Florida; party affiliation switched from Democrat to Republican without their knowledge 2004
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/20/Pasco/...
(Removed by the site staff)
Obama on his website says he never worked for ACORN and they aren't involved today with his campaign or his administration. Watch this youtube of Obama at an Acorn meeting last December promising them everything immediately after the election. America doesn't want this kind of change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vJcVgJhN...
I think it is very un-american to make jokes about documented voter fraud.
I think it is un-american for a campaign to donate money to an organization that has had a history of doing this and other fraudulent activities.
It is un-american to chum, or hang out with a known domestic terrorist whose beliefs are un-american, proven as recent as 2001.
It is not good for america to put anyone in the white house who just recently became proud of their country for the first time.
It is very bad for america to elect a president whom we have demanded little information about. why can't we see his thesis from columbia? If he is a great american i want to read it, if he is not i want to not elect him.
I am going to vote for a patriot because i think
thats what makes me a great american.
I am not going to vote for a liar, period.
JustTheFactsJack:
That's it...That's all you've got. People CLAIMING they were switched from one side to the other without their knowledge. And from the articles it appears only a handful of folks from different areas. Your really trying to compare that to Obama's failed and corrupt ACORN organization? Really??
I wouldn't doubt some people were switched and the perpetrators should be punished. Hey, that's something I didn't hear you say about your beloved Obamas failed and corrupt ACORN. Your comment was just a simple 'tit for tat'.
You really do not do your moniker any justice.
Mr. Ralston,
ACORN is corrupt. Deal with it. Republicans are fed up that the media are covering this stuff up. That is why they are "frothing". At least you acknowledged that ACORN does have problems and I commend you for that.
But it goes deeper than just ACORN having problems. It is not hard to connect Obama to ACORN, it is well document all over the net. He worked for them. Maybe not as a direct employee, but he still worked for them. For me, this just further illustrates Obama's poor judgement. It also shine a huge spot light on how much the media is in the tank with him and will cover up just about anything that's shows him in a negative way.
ACORN has registered 1.3 Million new voters-primarily minority, low and moderate income people now have the franchise.
Registering that many voters-never before done by one organization on this scale-is never a clean and precise business. And remember, ACORN flagged most of these bad cards, being required by law to turn them in!
For anyone who is interested in a real democracy, what ACORN has done is truly patriotic.
Fraudulently registering voters is now patriotic. Do they burn flags as part of their patriotism also. Next you'll be telling me Obama's Reverend Wright is patriotic too as is his wife who is just now proud of her country.
Please just put the kool-aid down for a moment or at least add more water to it.
Looking across the tabs at the top of the page that say news, opinion, sports and so on, one is missing. Journalism. Jornalism is dead in this country. We look to journalists for truth, but all we get is a one sided look for whoever they are in the tank for. It's a shame that they can't work to shine the light of truth on both sides of the aisle instead of working hard to get their candidate elected.
Whereas I don't support either party, the Republican party's ire over ACORN's activities is merely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
ACORN may have fraudulently registered voters, but the republican party has been guilty numerous times of fraudulently DISQUALIFYING voters, as uncovered by a study done by the BBC (published by PBS).
Check it out: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/330/video.h...
jldour:
Right on. I think that is what infuriates me the most.
It's so disgustingly obvious who the media is rooting for and what they try to sugar coat or flat out ignore.
Who was the ACRON lawyer?
Who trained ACRON staff?
Perhaps, Obama.........
1.3 Million New voters-why does that scare you so?
Haha,
My comment got removed because I asked why Brian Greenspun's editorials never allow comments and to ask Jon to get a real free market economist to debate him on his show (Mr. Greenspun calls for socialism with no proof that it works and leaves only proof that socialists don't allow criticism).
Um, jldour & car_1 ... this is the OPINION section.
Journalism is normally found under the "news" heading.
Oh and car_1 ... was it "disgustingly obvious who the media [was] rooting for" in 2004? 2000? During all the Clinton non-scandals?
The disconnect and cognitive dissonance is mind-numbing.
Gibbons is going to try to bully, lie and cheat, the Democrats out of their true votes... Pray that this Devil will not ruin our election in Nov.
"Journalism is normally found under the "news" heading." but not in the Las Vegas Sun.
And yes the Las Vegas Sun editors will not alway blogs
That why Las Vegas Sun owner is laying off people and losing money
Oh blah blah blah and your liberal media horse manure. I suppose you think the R-J is "fair and balanced" along with Fox "news", AM radio, The Moonie Times, etc. etc. etc.
Enough with the nonsense. The last time we actually had a "liberal media" was Watergate. This "liberal media" crapola was an invention of the neocons to explain away their failures.
If you don't like The LV Sun, go to the R-J where they all think in lockstep, just like you do.
Surely, you must be kidding about the the elections in 2000 and 2004. The media did just about everything they could at the time to stump for Algore and Kerry. They were just trying to hide it then. Now it's a whole new ball game and they aren't even trying to hide it.
As for the Clintons, you mean the "I did not have sexual relations" comment on national television and then a month later saying "oh yeah, I did have an inappropriate relationship with that woman." That was far from a scandal but he did lie and the media had to report. The Clinton administration was an eight year freak show, you couldn't help but to watch.
A friend of mine was out canvassing for Obama yesterday. She was called a "terrorist" for supporting him. Effectively, she was out doing her best for America, and was threatened by right wing thugs for doing it.
I couldn't care less what you right wing loonies think. You are the same bigoted morons that put the current incompetent fool in the oval office.
Obama is a fine man and I will happily vote for him.
car_1, I realized with probably the first post I saw of yours that actual facts never really enter into your realm of consciousness, let alone logic.
And this ("The media did just about everything they could at the time to stump for Algore and Kerry. They were just trying to hide it then.") is without a doubt the best example.
The media is a business. RJ is libertarian/conservative, the SUN is liberal. Greenspun is trying to differentiate his service from the big kids on the block by going left and hoping to capture a growing market in Nevada...liberals.
The media is neither conservative nor liberal, its in it for profit...if it can survive the new media onslaught that is.
I disagree. I do not think the SUN main goal is to make a profit. I think Greenspun is using money from his other businesses to support his pet project, Las Vegas Sun.
Does he want it to make a profit? Yes
Is he concern about how much money it loses each year? Yes.....there is only so much money he is willing to pump into this pet project. Business is so bad he had to laid off some staff, including writers, recently.
Does he care that its liberal leanings helped it lose so much leadership that it now has to be carried as an insert into LVRJ? No
Should he be smart and carry some conservative writers to get more people to read the Sun? Yes, at least some online writers.
I just watched Obama's news conference and was startled to see numerous Obama campaign flags, "knock-offs" of Old Glory, juxtaposed in equal proportion to our national flag. What is going on here? Obama is starting to remind me more and more of Hugo Chavez.
I don't think conservative writers will add anything for the SUN.
1) THE RJ has that already
2) People like us come to the SUN because of the Howard Stern effect. "What the heck are they going to say next"
His business model is to be left of center there is no otherway for them to try and stay afloat.
mikegino, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol,
ooooohhh thats scaryyyyy
lol,lol, lol, lol, lol
Jack: JustTheFacts please.
I'm sorry mike, your right.
The "oh thats scary" part is not a fact.
I was laughing at your post, so I guess that is a fact.
I will retract my prior post and re-post the following:
lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol
Jack: Now that's a good boy! (lol)
After all the hype from the left and then from the right plays out, there is a critical point many seem to be missing here. ACORN or other groups do not vote for the people; they only register them. The central question is not about left or right wingers; it is about all of our freedom. When you restrict one, you restrict every one's freedom. What remains in the center is this: By what right did the "authorities" raid the ACORN office and seize computers and data?
That organization is working within the parameters of our democracy. They are by law required to turn in all cards of those registering to vote through them. The organization "flagged" registrations they considered dubious. All registrations are checked by the election officials. Be honest, this seizure was politically motivated. This is a coup d'etat by the authorities of the State of Nevada. It is fueled by Republicans who fear others might vote against their wishes. This practice, if left unchallenged, threatens all of us. It is a blemish and a shame to all citizens who believe everyone should have a vote. Whether you are cheering on the left or groaning on the right doesn't matter. What matters is if this action will go unchecked to usurp all of our freedom.
Jon, a nicely balanced article that tries to cut through the attempts by the parties to deal with it on a soundbite, partisan brush. The fact is that the Republicans had this complaint sitting in a can ready to pull out to justify demanding voter ID and confirmations/cross-checking, but -- by bringing the issue up so late (as in the Ohio case just decided) -- they've guaranteed that many new voters' backup check won't be completed and they'll at best get to cast provisional ballots. The Republicans get a "two-fer", as by attacking ACORN, they can again pull out the "Obama is a community organizer pandering to ((whisper)) black people" subtext. Studies show that registration fraud -- and there's no showing any concentrated effort was done here -- rarely leads to any significant voting shenanigans. If you're registered 70 times at one address, your registrations will get flagged and precinct workers are likely to catch you on your 51st or 52nd visit to the same polling place, don'tcha think? People -- just recognize it for the politics that it is and go back and pick a candidate on the basis of how we'll he'll dig our country out of this mess, please??