Congressman Bob Latta expresses opposition to the simulus package

Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) discusses his opposition to the stimulus package

PA: Another ACORN Employee Charged With Fraud

Delaware County officials have charged an ACORN employee for submitting 18 fraudulent registrations.

According to the District Attorney, as many as 500 other voter registration forms are being investigated.

'Princess' sent voter registration

'Princess' was sent a voter registration, But, 'Princess' ia a goldfish LOL

Lake County Illinois Clerk and State's Attorney call for investigation of possible voter registration fraud.

More ACORN fraud found in Cleveland, OH

Hat Tip to Genn X

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections referred more 14 cases of potential voter registration fraud to the county prosecutor today as part of an investigation of suspicious registration cards submitted by ACORN.

The board voted on each case individually after reviewing copies of cards the registration department flagged as suspicious.

Of about 72,000 cards ACORN turned in this year, election workers found batches of cards with the same name but different addresses, mismatched signatures, or different Social Security numbers. More than 5,000 were missing information and could not be used. The board could not verify the address on 3,500 others.

The board referred four cases of potential registration fraud to the prosecutor last week. The county sheriff has subpoenaed employment records of 41 workers from ACORN’s Cleveland office.

A spokesman for Prosecutor Bill Mason said the investigation is ongoing. Charges have not been filed.

Rick Hasen on voting issues

Interview of Loyola Law School Professor and election law expert Richard Hasen by Newshour's Judy Woodruff, discussion of integrity of voting systems.

Rotten ACORN

Voter Registration Fraud DOES Lead to Voter Fraud
Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 8:35 AM
The liberals defending ACORN's fraudulent voter registration efforts have said again and again voter registration fraud doesn't lead to voter fraud.

Well, we didn't have to wait till Election Day to find out they're wrong.

The Associated Press reported Friday that the New Mexico GOP found 28 people who voted fraudulently in Albuquerque during the June Democratic primary by absentee ballot. One of the ballots was cast from someone named "Duran-Duran"

The GOP's review was conducted in House District 13 and only included 92 ballots. That means roughly a third of the ballots examined were fraudulent.

This is a bombshell. We now have undeniable proof that a significant number of fraudulent voters were cast in Democrat primary races for the New Mexico state legislature as a result of ACORNs voter registration fraud, said State Representative Justine Fox Young (R.-Albuquerque). No longer can ACORN argue that their phony voter registration forms dont translate into fraudulent votes. They do and today we can prove it.

http://townhall.com/blog/g/c931ad6e-9ff5-4bca-96be-2ac7ac700f4f

Palestra.net: Out-Of-State Obama Worker Votes In Ohio

Hit Tip to Shelby @ palestra.net

ACORN Fraud in New Mexico - Duran Duran Registered and Votin

An investigation in New Mexico has revealed problems with 92 ACORN registrations in a Bernalillo County House District. Among the 92, investigators found a registration submitted for 80’s pop sensation Duran Duran.

At a press conference today, the New Mexico Republican Party provided evidence showing that at least 28 of those registrants had cast ballots in the state primary.

The Bernalillo County Clerk had recently forwarded more than 1,100 ACORN registrations to state and federal authorities for criminal investigation.

San Diego begins investigation into ACORN activities

An liberal activist group that is being investigated by the FBI for suspected voter fraud in at least eight states is now under investigation here in San Diego.

Accusations against ACORN include attempts to register voters under the names of the deceased and Disney characters.

San Diego's Registrar of Voters is taking steps to fight the possible fraud.

While investigators determine whether ACORN's problem is a conspiracy to commit voter fraud or just a few "problem workers" looking to pad their paychecks--as ACORN representatives claim--the group's registration of thousands of voters in San Diego is now suspect.

According to the Registrar's office, ACORN submitted more than 26,000 affidavits between January and September 2008, more than any other county in California. Some 4,600 affidavits were initially "red-flagged" for incomplete or invalid information, such as missing birthdays or bogus addresses.

Ultimately, about 7 percent of those questionable applications were rejected. Some were handed over to the Secretary of State's office for investigation.

The investigation is playing out in real-time in the presidential race, with the McCain campaign informing potential voters of Barack Obama's longstanding ties to the organization in Chicago.

A national spokesman for ACORN said it works to identify potentially fraudulent voter registrations by its employees and notifies election officials of any potential cases of fraud.

The national spokesman said that the problem is an issue of a few problem workers and not voter fraud.

News 8 tried unsuccessfully to speak with local ACORN representatives by phone and in person.

The 26,000 voter registration affidavits ACORN submitted between January and September 2008 represent less than 2 percent of San Diego County's 1.4 million voters.

Palin: Don't Turn The Buckeye State Into The ACORN State

Gov. Sarah Palin at her rally in West Chester, Ohio Friday, October 17, 2008:

"In this election, especially here in Ohio, you're going to be asked to choose between a candidate who will not disavow a group committing voter fraud and a leader who will not tolerate it. This group needs to learn that you, here in Ohio, you won't let them turn the Buckeye state into the ACORN state."

PA GOP sues ACORN

The Pennsylvania Republican Party is expected to file a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court against ACORN and the State Election Board. They will claim the State is not prepared to stop illegal votes from being cast through fraudulent registrations submitted by ACORN.

The lawsuit asks the court to require prospective voters who filed registration applications through ACORN that haven’t yet been processed to be required to vote by paper, provisional ballots in the Nov. 4 election.

There have been reports of ACORN fraud in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and yesterday it was reported that the FBI was conducting a nationwide investigation into ACORN’s voter registration problems.

Obama Supporter Caught On Tape Electioneering in Iowa

Hat Tip to Jackie @ J Chiles Esq

This video was submitted to us by a concerned voter on the campus of Iowa’s Simpson College.

The reader identify’s the individual caught on tape as Jamie Corey, President of the Simpson College Democrats.
Interestingly enough Ms. Corey circulated an email to the student body regarding “rumors” circulating campus that she was attempting to influence voters inside the Warren County early vote location. Our reader obtained a copy of this email:

Watch the video and decide for yourself:

Cleveland Reporter Flashed by ACORN Transvestite Illegal Voter

Darnell Nash, the Cleveland man (er…woman?) who illegally registered to vote with ACORN and then cast a ballot was interviewed today by WIOI-TV

Civil RICO action filed against ACORN in Ohio

Today, the Buckeye Institute, a think tank in Columbus, filed a State RICO action against ACORN for a scheme to obtain, prepare and file fraudulent voter registrations throughout the state of Ohio.

It seeks ACORN’s dissolution as a legal entity, the revocation of any licenses in Ohio, and an injunction against fraudulent voter registration and other illegal activities.

The suit cites numerous instances in a dozen states as evidence of ACORN’s fraudulent behavior. Read the full complaint here.

And this from Maggie @ Thurber's Thoughts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maurice Thompson, (614) 224-4422
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

BUCKEYE INSTITUTE FILES STATE RICO ACTION AGAINST ACORN

Think Tank Represents Two Warren County Voters

COLUMBUS – The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based think tank, today filed a state RICO action against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on behalf of two Warren County voters. The action filed in Warren County Court of Common Pleas alleges ACORN has engaged in a pattern of corrupt activity that amounts to organized crime. It seeks ACORN’s dissolution as a legal entity, the revocation of any licenses in Ohio, and an injunction against fraudulent voter registration and other illegal activities.

Plaintiffs Jennifer Miller of Mason, Ohio and Kimberly Grant of Loveland, allege that ACORN’s actions deprive them of the right to participate in an honest and effective elections process. They allege fraudulent voter registrations submitted by ACORN dilute the votes of legally registered voters.

“The right to cast a vote that is not diluted by fraudulent votes is a fundamental individual right,” Buckeye Institute President David Hansen said.

“ACORN appears to be recklessly disregarding Ohio laws and adding thousands of fraudulent voters to the state’s roles in the process,” Maurice Thompson, Director of the Buckeye Institute’s 1851 Center for Constitutional Law said. “Such voter fraud erodes the value of legally cast votes,” he added.

In the complaint, Thompson cites an accumulation of evidence showing numerous instances of admitted fraud by ACORN employees, as well as individuals solicited by ACORN.

“In light of its hiring, training and compensation practices, ACORN should have known its conduct would cause fraud,” Thompson said. “It also should know that its conduct will cause fraud in the future.”

In addition, the complaint cites conduct by ACORN in Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

A full copy of the complaint is available online at http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/acorn.pdf.

The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, together with its 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, is a nonpartisan research and educational institute devoted to individual liberty, economic freedom, personal responsibility and limited government in Ohio.

Could This Week Decide the Election?

Could This Week Decide the Election?

By Shane D'Aprile

Tuesday marks the start of early voting in Ohio-the state that held the key to the presidential election four years ago. In a place where voting issues have become the norm, some estimates have early voters comprising more than 35 percent of Ohio's total electorate this year. If so, it would be more than enough to swing the state to Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain.

"Truth is, it's a bit of a work in progress here," says Democrat and longtime Ohio political consultant Jerry Austin. This is the first presidential election for which the state will allow early voting, and Austin says there's just not enough history to provide candidates and campaigns with much of a game plan.

"The biggest thing it forces you to do," says Austin, "is to allocate a lot of resources now, as opposed to leaving it all for the last three weeks of the race."

Across the country the frequency of early voting has increased dramatically over the past three election cycles as more states have moved toward no-excuse absentee voting. That means that tens of thousands of voters no longer need a legitimate reason to cast an absentee ballot.

One wrinkle to the early voting process in Ohio this year is a rule that will allow new voters to register and actually cast an early vote on the same day. Early voting in Ohio is set to begin Tuesday, but the state's registration deadline isn't until Oct. 6. During that six-day period, Ohio's Democratic secretary of state has ruled that residents can register and immediately cast a vote. It has resulted in a lawsuit from the state GOP, which says the rule raises the specter of fraud.

Ohio's state Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether the early voting process can move forward as planned sometime Monday.

The Obama campaign, meanwhile, is preparing to take advantage of the 6-day window with younger voters, particularly those on college campuses. The primary focus is Ohio State University, which has more than 50,000 students. The campaign is also concentrating on urban areas and other parts of the state where the likelihood of securing early votes for Obama is high.

Rock the Vote has plans for an Ohio bus tour to raise awareness of the early voting window that runs mostly through the state's urban areas and major college towns.

"The fact that [Ohio] has this golden window is something [Democrats] are seeing as a great opportunity to encourage folks to get out and vote early," says Christine Pelosi, a Democratic organizer. "The other benefit is that if you can get your supporters out now, before the final blitz of negativity, you can counter some of the voter suppression that comes in the form of negative campaigning during the last few weeks."

From a grassroots perspective, one of the keys to early voting is voter education. Pelosi says the greatest early voting hurdle tends to be unawareness of the rules. That's particularly the case in a state like Ohio, where the 6-day window breeds uncertainty.

"It's confusing," she says. "It made my eyes pop and I do this for a living. So, I can imagine the reaction of the average voter."

The McCain campaign, too, is rounding up early voters in Ohio, and says it's not ceding the playing field to Obama. The McCain-Palin ticket will be in Columbus, Ohio for a Monday morning rally.

Republican Phillip Stutts says that while on paper the Obama campaign has the organizing advantage, the McCain campaign boasts an Ohio grassroots staff that has worked together for more than one election cycle, and has executed early voting plans in the form of absentee balloting in previous years.

Of course, Ohio is far from the only key state where early voting will exert a major impact on the final vote. Early voting estimates are just as high in states like Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida, where between 30 and 40 percent of the total electorate is expected to cast early or mail-in votes.

In 2004, says Stutts, the early voting focus in the Bush campaign was on reliable voters. Stutts was the national director of the Bush campaign's highly successful 72-hour plan.

"We had an early vote strategy for every state in 2004, because you had to deal with different rules and regulations in just about every state," he says. "We tried to turn out our reliable voters early, which allowed us to spend the last week or so getting the less reliable voters out."

As for exactly who votes early, it's hard to identify any real pattern, says John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank. Based on past statistics, early voting doesn't appear to advantage one party over another, but Fortier says research does show that early voters are more partisan than the rest of the electorate.

In the end, says Stutts, early voting likely means that the next two weeks are just as important as Election Day for the GOTV operations of both campaigns.

"You could have a third of the entire electorate that has already voted by Election Day," he says. "So the best early vote strategy could really decide this entire election."

sdaprile@politicsmagazine.com