Drinking the ACORN Kool-Aid: How Cries of Voter Fraud Cover Up GOP Elections Theft

Virtually the entire mainstream electronic media drank ACORN Kool-Aid this month brewed up by the Republican National Committee. Almost no one seriously challenged John McCain's comical assertions that ACORN, a grassroots voter registration group, "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

While the Republicans had the distracted media searching for links between Obama and ACORN, RNC operatives were busily completing one of the most massive voter suppression and purging efforts in American history, stealing hundreds of thousands of Democratic votes across the embattled swing states and striving to arrange chaos and endless lines at the voting booths next week.

First the facts about ACORN. Months ago, we obtained, as part of our investigation for Rolling Stone magazine, the Republican's list the GOP alleged were the very worst cases of vote and registration fraud by ACORN and similar groups. We went through the names the GOP asserted were "obviously, undeniably and clearly fraudulent" voter registrations.

First, there was Melissa Tais, a dubious ACORN registrant. Her two voter registration forms show, admittedly, suspiciously different signatures. Republicans suggested Melissa was part of a massive fraud to allow Democrats to vote twice.

They were wrong. Ms. Tais, a Cerrillos, New Mexico, waitress, told us she had signed one form on a table and one form holding the paper in her hand. Hence, a second, wobbly signature.

Then there was Patricia White, who Republicans claimed was a fictitious voter. When we filmed her at home in Albuquerque, she seemed real enough.

And so on, through the entire GOP list -- not one fraud. And these were their best cases out of the five million "illegal voters" who Republican leaders claim have infiltrated America's voting rolls.

The overblown histrionics about ACORN do not surprise those of us who have been watching the RNC's election manipulation antics. For eight years White House operatives have been trying to gin up press stories about voter fraud. David Iglesias of New Mexico was one of seven U.S. Attorneys fired by the White House for their refusal to bring voter fraud prosecutions. "We took over 100 complaints," from the GOP, he told us, "We investigated for almost 2 years, I didn't find one prosecutable voter fraud case in the entire state of New Mexico."

Iglesias, a McCain supporter, has, for the first time, leveled a new and serious charge: Despite finding none of the 200 voters guilty, he says the White House nevertheless ordered him to illegally prosecute baseless cases against innocent citizens, just to gin up voter fraud publicity. His refusal, he says, cost him his job. "They were looking for politicized -- for improperly politicized US attorneys to file bogus voter fraud cases."

Certainly ACORN collected some bad signatures. But despite McCain's claims, now morphed into media theology, none of ACORN's actions will have any impact on any election. ACORN hired 13,000 canvassers to register new voters. A small number of these workers defrauded ACORN by handing in phony registration forms using names they had invented (e.g. Mickey Mouse), or copied from phone books. In one case ACORN canvassers used cigarettes to bribe a homeless man, now a Fox News regular, to register 17 times. None of these activities constituted voter fraud. It is no crime to register 17 times; only the final registration counts. His multiple registrations would not allow the tobacco lover to vote 17 times. Nor is there any evidence the phone book registrants will cast multiple ballots.

Finally, the removal by GOP officials of hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters from voting rolls over the past year provides ACORN with a sound rationale for obtaining new registrations, even from voters who believe they are already registered.

ACORN took pains to screen its registrations and cull out those it considered dubious. However, federal laws make it a felony for voter registration groups like ACORN to discard registrations even when it believes them fraudulent. So ACORN flagged the forms it considered doubtful and handed them in to the registry. Ironically, it was those flagged forms -- the fruits of ACORN's diligence -- that have been flogged by Republicans as their best evidence of widespread election fraud.

Voter fraud is a phantom according to Lorraine Minnite, an expert on voting crime at Columbia University. Only 24 cases of federal voter fraud have been uncovered between 2002 and 2005 despite massive government efforts devoted to uncovering evidence of a voter fraud crime wave.

The GOP is ginning up hysteria about non-existent vote fraud by Democrats in order to distract the press from its own campaign to disenfranchise millions of American voters.

The Republicans have created an obstacle course of barriers designed to suppress the vote, purge tens of thousands of Democratic voters from voting rolls, create mayhem and delay at voting venues on Election Day, and stop millions of votes from being counted this election cycle.

Jailed GOP activist Jack Abramoff and his fellow convict, Congressman Bob Ney, wrote the most sinister provisions of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which Congress passed in 2002 creating a series of diabolically cunning new voting impediments. HAVA, for example, allows state voting officials to purge tens of thousands of voters from the polls using algorithms and voter ID requirements that disproportionately disenfranchise black, Hispanic and minority voters, and other Democratic demographics including senior citizens and young people.

In 2004, highly organized GOP tacticians helped disenfranchise no less than 2.7 million American voters. Almost a million of them were African Americans. The The Federal Elections Commission has found black voters were nine times more likely to have their votes discarded than white voters and that over one-third of the million provisional ballots cast in 2004 -- ballots handed disproportionately to African Americans -- were never counted but simply thrown into dumpsters.

In a technique known as "caging" RNC operatives send millions of first class letters to black voters across the country marked 'do not forward.' Republican operatives armed with lists then invade black precincts on Election Day to challenge those voters whose letters were returned to the RNC because the voter was not home when the mail arrived. That tactic deliberately targeted black students on vacation in August, homeless men and soldiers posted overseas. "Caging" is resurrecting Old Dixie's Jim Crow procedures designed to rid the lists of black voters and create long lines in black precincts.

In this election, new HAVA mandates permit voting officials to precisely match registration form information with the voter's driver's license and other government records. While it may sound reasonable, in practice, any change, even a dropped hyphen, is cause for eliminating the voter from the rolls. Since 2004, Colorado's Republican Secretaries of State have purged one out of every five voters from the rolls. The current Secretary of State, Mike Coffman, a Republican also running for office, recently purged an additional 37,000 voters and discarded 6,400 new voter registrations -- overwhelmingly Democratic -- based upon an obscure technical mistake that Coffman's office encouraged voters to make in the first place.

The GOP "anti-fraud" campaign resulted in one in nine New Mexico Democratic voters finding their names had disappeared from voter roles during this year's caucus.

Despite a recent Supreme Court decision upholding Ohio's refusal to disenfranchise 200,000 legitimate voters based on this absurd demand to "match" voter names to databases, White House operatives are still fighting to purge these names from the rolls. President George Bush last week personally asked his Attorney General Mike Mukasey to renew Republican efforts to disenfranchise these voters.

Contrary to Mr. McCain's assertions, the real threat to democracy is from the GOP itself. ACORN has served as a good distraction from Republican efforts to steal the vote from hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters, a genuine threat that has received almost no media attention.

They're stealing your vote, but you can steal it back. Here are some steps you should take to protect your vote. First, avoid the November 4th minefield. Voters, wherever possible, should vote early and in person. Where feasible, avoid mailing in your ballot, many are rejected for flimsy reasons, and first time voters in many states must include a photocopy of ID. However, if you have a mail-in ballot, don't throw it away. Follow directions, use the correct postage (that's an error that cost a hundred thousand votes last time) and, if possible, walk it in to your elections office.

At the polling station, should you find yourself one of the 2.7 million purged, or your ID rejected, then do your best to resist a "provisional" ballot--one third of which are not counted. Return with proper ID, or call 1-866-OUR VOTE for legal assistance. And never just walk away discouraged. That's just what they want you to do.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast are authors of an investigation of vote suppression in the current Rolling Stone, and a comic book voter guide, "Steal Back Your Vote," both available for download at StealBackYourVote.org.

Comments

[Kerra52]

WHY ISN'T THIS ARTICLE UP ON TOP OF THE FRONT PAGE? It should be there and remain there through election day.

This is so important!

[justobserve]

Agree! With these tactics going on for years yet the media still drink Kool aid? Registration fraud is nothing compared with voting suppression. It's a disgrace in a democracy as ours. Do Republicans want to compete with the Banana Republics?

[estreya]

My guess is that the media IS covering this. Just not the American media.

This is a horror.

Come on, journalists, get this story out! We Americans are hungry for actual journalism, and you'll not only be saving your souls, but the soul of our nation.

[quest44]

This has to be the reason that dispite all polls that show Obama with a pretty good lead McCain is confident that he will win.He knows that Bush and company are out to help him steal the vote !
I just hope that we can steal it back before its too late.

[stanschurman]

The Republicans are apparently suing the Democrats for copyright infringement on voter fraud.

[maddronn]

The first two actions the Democrats should take, immediately upon gaining control in Washington, is to repeal the Machiavellian “voter protection act” and to begin investigations of voter fraud and voter suppression activities across the country. A new act needs to be enacted to make sure that all citizens who desire to vote are provided the opportunity to do so. President Obama should immediately appoint a special prosecutor in the Justice Department to undertake aggressive investigations and prosecutions of voting misdeeds, regardless of perpetrating party. Those found guilty need to go to jail. A clear message needs to be sent by the Democratic Congress and the President that this nation will no longer tolerate the usurpation of its citizen’s most fundamental right.

[quest44]

I couldn't agree with you more ! They also need to get rid of these voting machines that have been known to flip the votes from one candidate to another and return to paper ballots that can be recounted in the case of a close race.Witho­ut any proof of who you voted for its far to easy to have our votes corrupted.

[lynettema]

This is another reason Democrats must overwhelm the precincts with voters on Nov 4 or for early voting. If you early vote, you will have a better opportunity to fix a problem, should you have it. If the voting machines are rigged, we must definitely overwhelm the vote. GET OUT THERE and VOTE! The only poll that counts is the one on Nov. 4.

[gotsmarter]

Brilliant article. Most people need to hear repeatedly, in clear language such as in your article, that fake voter registrations aren't fake votes. The busy public just hears the charges, but not the fact. The down and out people, hired by ACORN, have no idea how much trouble they caused by cheating. They were just thinking about getting their pay for the number of names they turned in. Their deeds weren't nefarious, just incredibly selfish. Another red herring for Republicans to twist and use. I hope that Obama/Biden have trained attorneys to watch the polls, as I heard someone say on TV. I hope this practice would, once and for all, stop the Republicans' purging actual votes. Purging actual votes should surely be a Federal offense punishable by prison. I'm not kiding.

[QueenGZA]

Thank you for further exposing the GOP's efforts to disenfranchise (mostly democratic) American citizens.

Unfortunately, this is an all too familiar story in American history, reminiscent of Reconstruction and the late nineteenth century...­.

GRANDFATHER CLAUSE, ANYONE?

[vigwig]

Thank you. I'm passing this along to all I know, forewarned is forearmed. Ohio, Florida - NEVER AGAIN!

[johnnyboy69]

i truly fear that this is exactly how the rnc will steal this election like the last two.why isn't the media being more out front on this problem?

[jinjinpinti]

Could it be they're for McCain? Naaah. They all want to do their patriotic duty and pay a fair share of taxes on their quarter million per year salaries for a change. Also there're those flying pigs to consider.

[lwilkerson50]

This is the meeting that Joe Biden was talking about:
McCain attended ACORN rally - http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/mccain-attended-acorn-rally

This is what Senator Obama was talking about:
Daily Show Flashback: McCain is a "socialist", too! - http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/daily-show-flashback-mccain-socialis

[JonathanDS2U]

Republicans have set up the situation, by spotlighting the false ACORN issue, so that they would "own" the issue of fighting voter fraud. They would have us think they "own" the American flag and patriotism. They attempt to promote the absurd notion that the word "change" should be most associated with them. They "own" religion and morality. With tax cuts for the rich, they lay claim to preferential rights to money itself.

[Riverrat10k]

Does Obama "own" the Presidential Seal? I read he has quit using his Obama Seal as it violated election law. Both sides are corrupt, and probably serve the same masters. I fear for our future.

[PoliJunkie]

For the record he stopped using that seal because most of HIS supporters did not like it. He did not want to presume that he was POTUS already. Stop spreading rumors.

[karmagirl1061]

Yes, please read and research more before spreading untruths. Why would O' presume to own the presidential seal?

[donndublin]

Why isn't the liberal media jumping all over it, if what RFK and Mr. Palast say are true? It's a fact that 8 out of 10 journalist are registered Democrats. Where are MSMBC, CNN, and NYT? It's more speculation than fact, is the reason.

If ACORN hadn't had multiple past voter fraud convictions and thousands of false registrations, there wouldn’t be a call for verification. Mail in ballots is an easy way to vote numerous times and you can use different names or addresses and go to several polling places to vote more than once.

Perhaps Kennedy and Palast are using Odinga tactics to incite hate and fear of riots to win the election. There are investigations of ACORN stealing the primary caucuses by bussing people across states lines to illegally attend caucuses. This is why the Hillary Clinton supporters are so angry. Texas had both a caucus and a primary. Hillary won the primary handedly but lost the caucus. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/261063

[Riverrat10k]

+1 don--I think both sides are corrupt. How do we fix it?

[donndublin]

Try voting Libertarian.

[OCKerouac]

Your comments would be all well and good if they were in any way true. If you can provide EVIDENCE of ACORN's 'multiple past voter fraud' then you would have a case to make.

As far as the 'mainstream media', Mr. Kennedy has appeared with this same story on MSNBC, perhaps other stations as well, but I can only speak from experience of seeing him on MSNBC, and I do not like to pretend I know things just to make a point. I prefer to use facts...

[donndublin]

Try doing a google search on, "ACORN voter fraud history".

[FFRacer]

If it is a "fact" that 8 out of 10 journalists are Democrats, why do you suppose that is?

Is it because they are, by and large, more intelligent and open-minded than the average? Or is it because they are being controlled by the Kremlin and Joseph McCarthy just hasn't got to them yet?

[Cybershaman]

Reporters tend to be liberal because it requires objectivity to see both sides of an issue, a liberal trait. Once you get past the boiler room, into the editors, management, owners, it gets extremely conservative. The 'liberal media' is an RNC myth just like the claims of ACORN fraud.

[donndublin]

Reporters equate objectivity with liberalism. Everyone has a bias, while liberal refuse to acknowledge it, conservatives are honest about it. That's why journalism is taught in the college of liberal arts.

Liberals are mostly mathematically challenged and never made it past algebra. A majority are dominated by the right side of their brains which is controls emotions and intuition. The left side of the brain controls the logical and analytical skills. Liberal arts majors learn how to express themselves and some do so effectively. Very few are capable of complex analytical reasoning and make their decisions based on feelings.

"The 'liberal media' is an RNC myth"?????

Why have most of the MSM daily newspapers, magazines, weekly papers, and other publications, endorsed Obama by count of 218 to 80? You should do a little research before you make your claims. You must think the former Soviet news agency Pravda was conservative too.

[Free UR Mind]

Stop Calling the Old-Rich-White-Man owned media "Liberal". Yes the Journalist are mostly Democrats, but they are told what to report. They cannot report anything other than they are told. Anyone with half a brain can tell that means there is a bias (Right Wing) to anything they do.

[evekendall]

Re McCain's false assertions:

Dictionaries should add the following to its definitions of the word "projection:"

"Projection: A psychological defense mechanism used by Republicans in which they attribute their own unacceptable behavior to Democrats. The mechanism is usually considered to be subconscious, but, in the case of Republicans, it is deliberately used in order to cover their own tracks and to tell lies about their opponents.­"

[Economike]

I didn't react when McCain started ranting about ACORN because I just figured he was lying. His mouth was moving and he's a republican politician.

[ThePublicRecord]

http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/426-bush-orders-to-doj-to-probe-ohio-voter-registrations.html

Bush Orders DOJ to Probe Ohio Voter Registrations

In a déjà vu moment from Campaign 2006, President George W. Bush again is asking his Attorney General to launch an investigation into the registration of hundreds of thousands of new voters, many of whom are expected to vote Democratic.

Bush forwarded to Attorney General Michael Mukasey a Republican request that he intervene in the battleground state of Ohio to force 200,000 new voters to either verify the information on their registration forms or cast provisional ballots, which are often thrown out after the voter leaves the polling place.