Seattle, Washington FBI Bureau File - Paperless Archives

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'! -'.' TheACo~fu.illctmen~ ~
[; I' S· ~,less than'3, Wllek b'efore the midt~rm Acorn and its affiliates bave pulled some i
I :'!' elections. four workers from Acorn, the .real stunts in recent years. in Ohio in 2004, a
. liberal activist group 'that bas registered worker for· one affiliate was given crack ce-
Il millions of voters, have been inQicted by a fed- c!line in exchange for fraudulent registrations .
era,! grand ju,l'Y for . that" incruded Under- :" :
II . submitting faISfil'vo~er [ • . . . 'J age voters, dead vot~ :
I.; registration formS to The '!-nwn-backed.outjd;· ers and pillars of the. .
n the Kansas City, Mis- and election fraud.· conimunity named .
.1 soun, election·board. . , " Mary Poppins, Dick ',' !
But hey, wbo needs voter ID laws? . Tracy and ·Jive Turkey, During a ~ngres- .:.,.; ,
I; I We wish this w~re an aberration; but auega- .sional bearing in Ohio· in the aftermath Cif the ' ...
::, tions of"fraud have ta;inted AcorD. v()ter driveS 2004 election .. officials from several counties in', >.
,. across the coUntry. Acorn:workers.bave beett the .sta,te explained Acorn's practice of dump-' :•.
"!I' convicted in WISconsin and Colorado, and·.in- . ingthousands ofregistrati()nforn:l.S in·theirlap· .
III vestigations are stilI under way in Ohio, Ten- on the submission deadline, even though the .
I ;. nessee a.'nd PennSyl:v'a¢a. forms had been collected months earlier.' . .;
I ' "You have to. wonder what's the po. int of .:.' ,I
I ! . '. The good news for anyone wbo 'cares about
'IJ~ . v9terintegrltyisthattheJtisticeDepartmentf1.. that, if not to overwhelm the system and get . nally see~ poiseg ~ connect. t'!lese dots in... pbony:registrations on ~e vo~r I'I?~s,:. s~ys . I
stead pf dismissing SUeb: re~elations. as the. ThorlIeame oftheAmen~ Cent~r lor voting :i
','1 work of afewyaboos. After tlie.federal indict- R~ghts, who .also testified at the hearing.'
I! : ments were handed up' ill :.KaIisas City this "These were Democratic officials saying that·
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they felt their eleCtion system in Ohio .wa~ un-
'!.' week, the U.S. Attorney's offi~!(said in a state- der. assault by these kinds of effortS to ga.IJl~ .
me~~ato:~ nati~nal invest:igation is verY the system." . :. ;
I , mu . ?n g m~ . . . '. GiveJ? this history; it's not.sUI1?rising that .:
"1 Let s bope so\.Acorn .o~lci~s bjIl ~em- ; Acorn is so bostile.to voter identification laws "1
jl, . sel~es as :q.o~p~an. c~mmum!y org~et:s and other efforts to ensure faiiness and aceu-, '.
~er~lY 4lterested m gJ.~g a. vplce. to ~on-. racy at the polls. In Missouri iast mpnth; the .
i.: '. ties and ~e J?O~r ... In reality, Acorn lS a um~n- state"Supreme Court held that a photo ID re- I
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timibac~daedti~ mlliantimillid th°n-dta°ctiU~ °t Utfit thb ~ot US hi7 !,.ID -· . quirement to vote was overly burdensome and '\
er
i'! .. on 0 er CS 0 pus l' • r b U a violation of the state constitution. Acorn was ,
1:1 ~um wage m8:!l~~tes anp. to trasb \fal- behind the original suit chall~ngi1ig the stat- "
;'1 Mart ro;t~ other non·~on.comp~es. ute,. and it has brought similar cllallellges in . '
i; I Op~rating in at least 38 states (as well as sever?! other states, including Ohio. '. . ;
I:: Canada and Mexico), Acorn. P1:lSlies a ll:iglily ArecentPewResearchCenterslirveyfounct '
:,; partisan' a~enda, and its organizers lll'e best thatbi!:lcks today are almost twice.as likely as ':.
;; i understood as sbpck troops for the AF;L-CIO. they were in 2004 to say they have· little or no 'j
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and even the' Demo.cratic Party. As part of the . confidence in the voting system. Such a findin'g ':
: I Fannie Mae reform 'bill, HOU$e Democrats would seem like a powerful argument for voter" .
it' . pushed an "affordable bousing trust 'fund" de- lDlaws, which cOl'lSistentlypoll well amongpeo-
"! • signed: to use E'anIj.le Mae and Freddie Mao pIe of fQl rae-es and incomes and would increase
1:'1' pro~ts to' subsidize. Acorn, among oilier' confidence in· th~ voting.lJl'Ocess. Of course;
I~ • groups. A version of this trust fund actually voter ID laws would also cut down on fraud,
I: passed the Republican House and will surely which, judging from the latest indictments,.
II~-_vbe
~n the ag~~~~!o~~Z2~~~-_
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