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ACORN, ACLU suit could have Nevada implications
Pennsylvania case also involved alleged quota system
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 | 5:47 p.m.
Sun Archives
- Court hearing set over voter registration allegations (7-15-2008)
- Criminal charges filed against ACORN, two employees (5-4-2008)
- State: No false or stifled votes here (10-29-2008)
- Voter fraud isn’t what – by some – it’s cracked out to be (10-12-2008)
- You can trust that your vote counts in Nevada, election officials say (10-12-2008)
- Gibbons, Gansert care deeply about voter verification (10-9-2008)
- Corrections department unaware of potential voter fraud (10-9-2008)
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today in Pennsylvania that could affect a criminal case in Nevada.
The two groups are seeking to strike down a Pennsylvania law used to prosecute voter-registration workers who allegedly used a quota system in the Pittsburgh area. The suit names Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. as defendants.
The Nevada Attorney General’s Office has charged ACORN and two former employees for allegedly employing a similar quota system in the Las Vegas area during the 2008 presidential campaign.
In May, Nevada Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen filed 13 felony charges each against the organization and former employees, Christopher Edwards and Amy Busefink, for allegedly paying bonuses to canvassers for exceeding a daily quota of 20 registrations and for firing employees who failed to meet the target.
ACORN officials have said 20 registrations was a benchmark and not a hard quota that determined employment or compensation.
Each charge carries a maximum $5,000 fine and mandatory probation.
Hafen declined to comment on the lawsuit saying he wasn’t sure how it might impact his case at this time.
Voter registration quotas and incentives are illegal in Nevada. They are in Pennsylvania, too, but Witold “Vic” Walczak, the ACLU’s legal director in Pennsylvania, released a statement saying the law barring those practices places an unconstitutional burden on collecting voter registrations.
“This law, which prevents ACORN from using commonplace management tools like performance standards and productivity goals to manage paid employees, does nothing to prevent election problems but does impose a major burden on constitutionally protected political activity,” he said.
Allegheny County’s Zappala charged five fired ACORN workers and two others with collecting or submitting bogus forms so workers could meet the alleged daily quota. All seven defendants are awaiting trial.
ACORN and other groups sued officials in Indiana and New Mexico earlier this month alleging those states violated federal laws by denying residents the ability to register to vote when they applied for public assistance or driver’s licenses.
Discussion: 19 comments so far…
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Hope acorn wins - they do good work despite what some of the folks think who are threatened by things progressive!
Progressive? Those frauds signed the whole Dallas Cowboy roster to phony registration cards.
Not to mention all the dead people they registered. Just another phony scam to free the slaves.
Managing contributors donations or managing money tendered by organizations for voter registration would require Acorn and other such groups to make sure employees or contractors do their job. Having performance standards is no different than what countless businesses have for telemarketers, salespeople, etc.
Should it be illegal to pay drivers by the mile? Or carpet layers by the yard installed?
The Acorn haters are hand in hand with the "birthers" (Obama doesn't have a U.S. birth Certificate), they are the kook fringe.
This case could hold up any convictions or sentencing for years for Nevada Acorn people.
Let the wheels of justice turn and not obstruct. It was wrong and they knew it.
Dont even get me started on "Acorn" i hope they get what they deserve they are a bunch of frauds when they can register someone more then once and even the dead they went too far they are a bunch of phonies and hope they get exposed for what they really are
Acorn is a worthless bunch of welfare parasites sucking off of people who are better than they are. They are incapable of taking care of themselves and need the taxpayers dollars to survive. Send them to Cuba.
This should be fought strongly. ACORN and it's corrupt members need to be held accountable. Let the trials begin and prosecute new cases as they come to the authorities attention!!
Just wondering, has there been ANY verified votes cast by any unlawfully registered "person"?..Because I thought there isn't voter fraud unless an illegal vote is actually cast, but I'm not a lawyer.
acorn...corruption at its best...
"ACORN and other groups sued officials in Indiana and New Mexico earlier this month alleging those states violated federal laws by denying residents the ability to register to vote when they applied for public assistance or driver's licenses."
Funny the Sun should mention it, but just today my daughter applied for her Nevada license. She's 18, and the form she filled out asked whether she wanted to register to vote...rather than actually registering her. It said, in effect, 'Get a voter registration form from the counter.'
I think that procedure violates the Federal "motor voter law".
As usual, it was complete chaos at DMV. There was no way she was going to stand in line to get another form.
Hey there, ACLU of Las Vegas, take a look. Nevada's procedure might also violate the Motor Voter law.
Hey Harry Reid, if Nevada used the "kill two birds with one stone form" allowed by the motor voter law, I bet you would have even more Democrat registered voters.
ACORN and the ACLU are un-american! ban them both!
Anytime any group or individual thinks they're above the law or are hot stuff, or think they're an entity of some influence they should try ordering around someone else's dog. Other than traffic, few groups have limited progress in this country more than political action committees.
"4real"-
Freedom is "un-american"! Ban it all! (/snark)
Mike-
Nope. That's the dirty little secret these Republicans don't talk about. They always whine about "voter fraud", but they never mention that (1) the number of false registrations is tiny, and (2) Mickey Mouse, the Dallas Cowboys lineup, and all these other false registrations NEVER turn out to vote. However, the restrictions they put in place (like the draconian voter ID law in Indiana) and the voter roll purges they instigate have conveniently suppressed low-income minority voters that just happen to mostly vote Democratic.
Just because you are dead; why can't you still vote? Duvall county in Texas has done it for years and I bet parts of most states have also with little effort to stop it.
Besides, I know a lot of people that have been brain dead for years and they vote.
atdleft, you are right and that is the difference between voter 'registration' fraud and voter fraud. The facts are, as you mentioned, the ACORN employees can turn in as many fake applications they want to...they still have to get screened and processed, and that is when they get flagged and thrown out.
Larry Lomax, head of CC Election Dept. has already stated CLEARLY that none of these fake registrations resulted in fraudulent votes being cast. ACORNs policies need to be fixed, for sure...what happened was still wrong. However, it did not result in any type of gain for Obama in the polls, as the Cons would like to deceive everyone into believing. Enough with the lies already!!
An issue that hasn't been bought up is "Credibility" for an organization that is earmarked to take the Census. ACORN representatives would better serve their cause by addressing this issue head-on rather than go under, over and/or around the issue.
ACLU is anti...anything..AMERICAN..they should be eliminated completely from our country...and sent to Mexico>>>
ACORN and the ACLU, two sides of the same coin. I wonder how many dead people voted for King Obama?
steve7952 writes: "An issue that hasn't been bought up is "Credibility" for an organization that is earmarked to take the Census."
ACORN is NOT going "to take the Census," steve despite what you hear on talk radio by the elite infotainers who have no "Credibility."