Voters say they were duped into registering as Republicans

[Sofiyya 1,687]

McCain didn't pay the group $800,000+ to register voters for his presidential campaign, but Obama did.

Thousands of voter registration forms faked, officials say

Liberal activist group filed 2,000 fraudulent voter forms, Indiana officials say

They included names of the dead and Jimmy Johns, a restaurant

Elections Board in northern Indiana has stopped processing 5,000 forms

From Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston

CNN Special Investigations Unit

CROWN POINT, Indiana (CNN) -- More than 2,000 voter registration forms filed in northern Indiana's Lake County by a liberal activist group this week have turned out to be bogus, election officials said Thursday.

The group -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN -- already faces allegations of filing fraudulent voter registrations in Nevada and faces investigations in other states.

And in Lake County, home to the long-depressed steel town of Gary, the bipartisan Elections Board has stopped processing a stack of about 5,000 applications delivered just before the October 6 registration deadline after the first 2,100 turned out to be phony.

"All the signatures looked exactly the same," Ruthann Hoagland, a Republican on the board. "Everything on the card filled out looks exactly the same."

The forms included registrations submitted in the names of the dead -- and in one case, the name of a fast-food restaurant, Jimmy Johns. Sally LaSota, a Democrat on the board, called the forms fraudulent and said whoever filed them broke the law. Watch how dead people are turning up on voter registration forms »

"ACORN, with its intent, perhaps was good in the beginning, but went awry somewhere," LaSota said.

Over the past four years, a dozen states have investigated complaints of fraudulent registrations filed by ACORN. On Tuesday, Nevada authorities raided an ACORN office in Las Vegas, Nevada, where workers are accused of registering members of the Dallas Cowboys football team. And the group has become the target of Republican attacks on voter fraud, a perennial GOP issue.

A subsidiary of the group was paid $800,000 by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign to register voters for the 2008 primaries, and ACORN's political wing endorsed Obama back in February. But Obama's campaign told CNN that it "is committed to protecting the integrity of the voting process," and said it has not worked with ACORN during the general election.

Brian Mellor, an ACORN attorney in Boston, said the group has its own quality-control process and has fired workers in the past -- including workers in Gary. But he said allegations that his organization committed fraud is a government attempt to keep people disenfranchised. Watch more about this investigation »

"We believe their purpose is to attack ACORN and suppress votes," Mellor said. "We believe that by attacking ACORN, they are going to discourage people that have registered to vote with ACORN from voting."

CNN was unable to reach ACORN officials in Gary and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the group's Indiana operation is based. Offices in both cities were empty when reporters visited.

Lake County elections officials have set aside all 5,000 of the ACORN-submitted applications in what Hoagland called the "fake pile" for later review. But she said every one will be reviewed before the election to make sure no legitimate voters are skipped.

There has been no evidence of voter fraud yet, because voters have yet to go to the polls. But elections officials say they will be sending their information to prosecutors, who will determine whether any investigation will begin.

"We have no idea what the motive behind it is," she said. "It's just overwhelming to us."

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Hopefully you can see the irony here. You claimed the OP was a non-story but continue to assert that the hoopla behind ACORN is legit. What exactly do you believe ACORN has done wrong (details please)? The GOP has been going after ACORN for a long time....so yes, it is a tactic of theirs and one that has led to absolutely no indictments of any wrong doing by ACORN. I'd like to hear what groups like ACORN are suppose to be doing differently to end all this 'crying foul'?

Steven, you have issues. Investigations involving ACORN activities have been ongoing and did not start with this election, nor are they a GOP ploy. You could use an education regarding the history of questionable activities by ACORN. Let it begin.

I really don't want to read about investigations. I've read enough on the issue. I'm asking someone to tell me, in their words, what exactly has ACORN done wrong? If your only answer is - they turned in fraudulent registration forms, then you failed. More to the point, what exactly should ACORN do in terms of registering voters that would stop the GOP from crying foul?

Every American, no matter what their party affiliation, should be crying foul. If you have read about ACORN's shady history and the investigations into it's activities and are still willing to defend it, there is little hope for you to reach any level of rationality or objectivity re this issue.

[Pooky 3,786]

Thanks to VW for providing substantiation they I can't access at the moment - I'm having Play-Doh issues

[Peikko 1,575]

As I have yet to see any sensible argument that this voter registration fraud is anything more than piss poor workers trying to increase their head count - for likely financial reasons, I can't yet make the jump that there is any political motivation to this. There is absolutely no evidence that registration fraud could/would lead to voter fraud. If someone was trying to actually comit voter fraud they would not be choosing names like Micky Mouse but rather names that woud arouse no suspicion.

It may well be that there is some financial fraud going on with this, and that should be properly investiged, but to try to link this to some widespread attempt by Democrats, and Barack Obama in particular to rig the election is mindless.

[Pooky 3,786]

As I have yet to see any sensible argument that this voter registration fraud is anything more than piss poor workers trying to increase their head count - for likely financial reasons, I can't yet make the jump that there is any political motivation to this. There is absolutely no evidence that registration fraud could/would lead to voter fraud. If someone was trying to actually comit voter fraud they would not be choosing names like Micky Mouse but rather names that woud arouse no suspicion.

It may well be that there is some financial fraud going on with this, and that should be properly investiged, but to try to link this to some widespread attempt by Democrats, and Barack Obama in particular to rig the election is mindless.

If it was just one office, I would be inclined to agree with you. But it's not, it's spread over a number of states and a number of offices.

As the saying goes, once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is a conspiracy. That's how a lot of people tend to look at things like this. There is too much of it going on in too many places for it to not to be dodgy.

[Peikko 1,575]

Financially dodgy, yes, I totally agree, but politically motivated to get a Democrat elected? Not a chance, it couldn't work and Barack is not stupid enough to endorse a policy that couldn't work.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Financially dodgy, yes, I totally agree, but politically motivated to get a Democrat elected? Not a chance, it couldn't work and Barack is not stupid enough to endorse a policy that couldn't work.

No ** political leanings for ACORN. No way!

ACORN's Political Action Committee Endorses Obama

February 21, 2008

NEW ORLEANS -- ACORN's Political Action Committee, ACORN Votes, announced Feb. 21 that it had endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President. ACORN PAC's representatives went through an extensive process of interviewing each of the major Democratic candidates. ACORN is a national anti-poverty organization which has hundreds of thousands of members in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in 104 cities.

"ACORN's members have deep appreciation and respect for Senators Clinton and Edwards and their work on behalf of our communities. What it came down to was that Senator Obama is the candidate who best understands and can effect change on the issues ACORN cares about like stopping foreclosures, enacting fair and comprehensive immigration reform, and building stronger and safer communities across America," said ACORN Votes moderator, Maude Hurd.

Alicia Russell of Arizona, western representative for ACORN Vote, said Obama relates to the issues facing low- and moderate-income people. "I think he will commit himself to providing us the necessary path for the low-income and moderate-income families to improve their lives," Russell said. "He's on the same level as we are, and sees our issues as we do."

ACORN Votes is a separate committee through which ACORN members engage in political action.

Edited October 18, 2008 by Virtual wife

[Pooky 3,786]

Financially dodgy, yes, I totally agree, but politically motivated to get a Democrat elected? Not a chance, it couldn't work and Barack is not stupid enough to endorse a policy that couldn't work.

But he doesn't have to be stupid enough to endorse the actions. His problem is that he used to work for them and they support him.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Obama has a long and deep relationship with ACORN, going back to the early 1990's. It's no surprise that they endorsed Obama, that they collected payments to register ** voters to support him, or that he has pledged to include community groups such as ACORN as advisors in his administration.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Financially dodgy, yes, I totally agree, but politically motivated to get a Democrat elected? Not a chance, it couldn't work and Barack is not stupid enough to endorse a policy that couldn't work.

But he doesn't have to be stupid enough to endorse the actions. His problem is that he used to work for them and they support him.

It's not about stupidity for Obama, it's about the kind of political opportunism and lack of long-term good judgement that he has indulged in for more than a decade, leading him to alliances with William Ayers, ACORN, Pastor Wright and other less than savory characters that he is being called upon to answer for today.

[bhajishah 4]

well they dont have to vote republican and they can change thier registration... i got duped into buying a time share in Vegas..

[Peikko 1,575]

Ah, some good old muddy water tactics?

My point was clear, there is no point in trying to equate registration fraud with voter fraud and that is what was being done by VW. Whatever fraud is going on, it is financial - and should be dealt with.

As to whether there is a political motivation in registering new voters (legite voters not the dodgy ones) totally seperate issue, and I don't see why that can't be politically motivated, I don't see the problem with it SO LONG AS their is no coercian from those helping people to register by forcing them to vote a particular way. Have we evidence of this?

As to the continued attempt to link Barack Obama with 'dodgy characters' in an attempt to persuade voters that he is in some way tainted goods that has no place in the WH. Pathetic. Get back to the issues. There is no reason to suspect that any of the candidates on the tickets are inelligible for any reason whatsoever, from being US citizens to having friends in low places.

I have yet to find a way for a candidate to refuse to accept votes from people they don't like. Any ideas?

[Sofiyya 1,687]

There is no attempt to link Obama to dodgy characters. The fact is, he has done so himself. Character and judgment skills are issues in a presidential election. Attempts to dismiss them as irrelevant are suspicious.

Edited October 18, 2008 by Virtual wife

[bhajishah 4]

Put voters on AP and send thie name to state dept for zebra checks

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Duped into registering as Republicans?

If they're that dumb then they probably don't know they can vote anyone they want to 'behind the curtain'. This is the base of the Democrat Party. We're doomed.