Posted by Dave on 10/10/08 at 02:57:21 pm
Categories: Campaign 2008

ACORN has been hitting the news lately as controversy swirls about their voter registration tactics.

Having a pretty good knowledge of ACORN and their tactics, I can say with authority that most of what is currently out in the media is a misleading, at best, and downright fraudulent, at worst.

Anytime you are collecting thousands of voter registration cards, there are going to be bad cards. What is very important to realize is that ACORN actually does much of the reporting of "fraudulent" cards. As Progress Illinois explains, in context of controversy on ACORN's work in Indiana:

What Griffin fails to note, however, is that ACORN made very clear that some registrations they gathered from canvassers in Lake County may have been faulty.
...
Why would ACORN submit registration forms it had deemed "suspicious"? Because under most state laws, voter registration organizations are required to turn in all the forms they receive. Why would ACORN submit registration forms it had deemed "suspicious"? Because under most state laws, voter registration organizations are required to turn in all the forms they receive.

ACORN works very hard to assure that the cards that they turn in are valid, and they notify election officials when they have bad/invalid cards. In turn, ACORN gets blamed for "fraud," even though they are doing everything according to law.

John Marshall, at Talking Points Memo, has the best explanation of the issues around ACORN. He sums it up well with this:

What you're hearing right now from Fox News, the New York Post, John Fund and the rest of the right-wing bamboozlement chorus is a just another effort to exploit, confuse and lie in an effort to put more severe restrictions on legitimate voting and lay the groundwork to steal elections.

It's that simple.

The Right has nothing else to hang their hat on other than allegations of voter fraud against ACORN. They are doing everything they can to attempt to delegitimize the upcoming election because it is looking more and more like they are not going to like the result.

ACORN is not perfect. Far from it. But they do an excellent job engaging, empowering, and mobilizing low-income and minority communities and voters. They are not interested in stealing the election. They are interested in giving a voice to the voiceless.

We cannot let the Right delegitimize this election, or ACORN.

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