ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS FOR REFORM
NOW (ACORN) BACKGROUNDER
(January 2005)
Founded In 1970,
ACORN Is “Nation’s Largest Community Organization Of Low And Moderate-Income
Families.” “ACORN, the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation’s largest
community organization of low and moderate-income families, with over 150,000
member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 65 cities across
the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of
concern to our members. Our priorities include: better housing for first time
homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in
our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools. We
achieve these goals by building community organizations that have the power to
win changes -- through direct action, negotiation, legislation, and voter
participation.” (ACORN Website, www.acorn.org, Accessed 8/6/04)
Internal ACORN
Plan Said Florida Minimum Wage Amendment Would “Help Defeat George W. Bush And
Other Republicans By Increasing Democratic Turnout.” “A 2003 internal ACORN plan suggests that
increasing Democratic turnout to defeat President Bush was the main goal of the
[minimum wage] amendment. ACORN calls itself a nonpartisan group dedicated to
helping low-wage workers. ‘A Florida constitutional amendment initiative to
create a minimum wage of $6.15 with indexing will help defeat George W. Bush
and other Republicans by increasing Democratic turnout in a close election,’
the plan notes. … Joe Johnson, a veteran St. Petersburg political consultant
hired by ACORN earlier this year to run the Florida campaign, said he was
repeatedly told that helping Democrats was the main goal. ‘Even if we lost the
election, we would still be winning by building critical mass,’ Johnson said.
Johnson left the campaign in August and says he grew increasingly uncomfortable
with ACORN’s methods.” (Lucy Morgan, “Group Accused Of Voter
Registration Violations,” St. Petersburg Times, 10/22/04)
ACORN Conducts
Its Voter Registration Activities Through Project Vote, Which Use “Local ACORN
Offices To Collect Registrations.”
“Damschroder said several ‘blatantly false’ forms were turned in by the voter
registration effort, in which the nationwide Project Vote uses local ACORN
offices to collect registrations.” (“Officials Question
Error-Filled Voter Registrations Collected By Paid Workers,” The Associated
Press, 6/2/04)
Former Ohio
Democratic Party Chair David Leland Is Project Vote’s National Director. (Project Vote Website, http://projectvote.org/index.php?id=118,
Accessed 10/12/04)
ACORN/Project
Vote Reported Registering 1.1 Million New Voters. (Julia
Malone, “Voter Drives Spark Charges Of Fraud, Scams & Forgeries,” Cox
News Service, 10/14/04)
ACORN Is Part Of
“One Of The Earliest, Most Massive And Most Sophisticated Voter Registration
And Mobilization Efforts Ever Mounted.” “An unprecedented range of progressive organizations --
including new groups such as America Votes and America Coming Together, as well
as more established citizen groups, such as U.S. Action and ACORN -- are
involved in one of the earliest, most massive and most sophisticated voter
registration and mobilization efforts ever mounted.” (David
Moberg, “Left Turn,” In These Times, 7/19/04)
ACORN/Project
Vote Is One Of Several “Self-Described Nonpartisan Charity Groups” – Funded By
“Unlimited Anonymous Contributions” – Conducting Major Voter Registration
Efforts For 2004 Election.
“Fueled by unlimited anonymous contributions, self-described nonpartisan
charity groups are launching ambitious programs to register hundreds of
thousands of new voters in key battleground states this year. Most of the
groups are traditionally allied with Democrats. Five large liberal-leaning
charities interviewed by The Hill said they plan to register upwards of
5 million new voters through registration programs that will cost millions of
dollars. The organizations are: USAction, People for the American Way, the
Center for Community Change, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
and the League of Conservation Voters. Two charities that are also expected
to conduct major registration operations, the NAACP Voter Education Fund and
ACORN/Project Vote, did not respond to requests for comment.” (Alexander
Bolton, “Charities Fill Parties’ Roles With Help Of Millions Of Dollars In Soft
Money,” The Hill, 3/17/04)
ACORN Is A
Member Of America Votes, A New 527 Organization Coordinating Election Activity
Of Many Liberal Interest Groups Collectively Dubbed The “Shadow Democratic
Party.” “Collectively
dubbed the ‘shadow Democratic Party,’ American Coming Together, the Media Fund
and a handful of other groups work on different key objectives to try to boost
the Democratic election machine. While ACT focuses on grassroots voter
turnout, the Media Fund, headed by former Clinton administration official
Harold Ickes, is focused exclusively on advertising. Overseeing their
activities and making sure the two groups don’t duplicate their efforts is a
third and smaller 527 group known as America Votes.” (America
Votes Website, www.americavotes.net,
Accessed 8/6/04; Amy Keller, “Entreaties Lead to Flood Of 527 Input,” Roll
Call, 4/7/04)
Colorado ACORN Worker Pleaded Guilty To Procuring False
Registrations, Sentenced To A Year Of Probation And 150 Hours Of Community
Service. “A man charged with filling out false
voter registration forms for the November election pleaded guilty Monday and
was sentenced to a year of probation. Pelonne Page, 21, also must perform 150
hours of community service. He was charged with six misdemeanor counts of
procuring false registrations. Page worked for the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, which paid people to sign up
voters. Also charged in the case was Monique Mora, who is set for trial in
March. A third defendant, Lloyd ‘Frosty’ Herrera, 30, was charged with five
counts of misdemeanor perjury for filling out several phony registration forms
for Mora and Page. He pleaded guilty to a charge of perjury in November and was
sentenced to 32 hours of community service.” (“Briefing,” Rocky
Mountain News, 1/4/05)
ACORN Director
Downplayed Seriousness Of Fraud By Stating “Just Because You Register Someone
35 Times Doesn’t Mean They Get To Vote 35 Times.” “Jim Fleischmann, ACORN Western regional
director, said he was cooperating with Denver authorities to track down several
hundred fraudulent applications collected by the organization, but he
downplayed the severity of the problem.
‘Registration fraud is different than voter fraud. Just because you
register someone 35 times doesn’t mean they get to vote 35 times. They can only
vote once,” he said. ‘The local press is having a feeding frenzy on
this.’” (Valerie
Richardson, “Colorado To Tackle Voter-Fraud Fears,” The Washington Times,
10/14/04)
Colorado ACORN
Worker Gets Girlfriend To Sign Up Friends To Vote 40 Times. “Kym
Cason admitted to signing up three of her friends to vote 40 times to help her
boyfriend, who earned $2 for each voter he signed up for the Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now. She said she forged their signatures
and filled out their information to the best of her knowledge. She also signed
herself up to vote 25 times.” (“Investigation
Reveals Potentially Fraudulent Voter Forms,” The Associated Press,
10/12/04)
ACORN Official
Admits To Fraudulent Registrations In Colorado. “Sneaky
voter-drive employees are to blame for submitting hundreds of faulty
registration applications in Colorado, said an official with the nonprofit
organization that mobilized the effort.
These workers were able to thwart the drive’s system of checks and
balances, said Jim Fleischmann, regional coordinator of the voting registration
effort of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now, commonly
known as ACORN. … Apparently, several [ACORN] employees filled out numerous
duplicate applications, but submitted them one-by-one over an extended period
of time, he said.” (Gabrielle
Crist, “Faulty Voter Applications Are Blamed On Workers,” Rocky Mountain
News, 10/15/04)
Problematic
Registrations In Arapaho County “Primarily” From ACORN And Other Political
Groups. “The problematic applications in Arapahoe
County were primarily from these three groups [ACORN, New Voters Project, and
Colorado Progressive Coalition] which all pay their workers to register voters.
All three political groups say they are non-partisan. ‘They may be non-partisan, but in point of fact, they are on the
progressive or liberal side of a political perspective,’ says 9NEWS political
analyst Floyd Ciruli.” (Paula
Woodward, “I-Team: Talks With Groups That Submitted Fraudulent Forms,” http://www.9news.com, Accessed 10/13/04)
Colorado
Attorney General And Three Local Prosecutors Investigating Alleged Voter Fraud
As ACORN Said It May Be Responsible For Some Fraudulent Registrations. “An investigation into allegations of
voter registration fraud in the metro area expanded Friday when three local
prosecutors joined state Attorney General Ken Salazar in the criminal probe.
The action comes three days after Secretary of State Donetta Davidson revealed
that hundreds of questionable voter registration applications had been turned
over to Salazar. … Salazar said Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, Adams
County District Attorney Bob Grant and Arapahoe County District Attorney James
Peters would collaborate with his office on the investigation. ‘The
investigation centers at this time upon allegations that one or more privately
employed voter registration solicitors made up and submitted a limited number
of false voter registrations in primarily Arapahoe, Denver and Adams counties,’
the attorney general’s office said in a statement. ‘The allegations are that
the solicitors, who were paid on the basis of each voter registration obtained,
either used fictitious names, fictitious addresses or supplied erroneous
personal information concerning real people, such as date of birth or Social
Security numbers. It appears at this point that the impetus for the alleged
criminal activity is economic gain.’ On Thursday, officials at the Denver
office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- ACORN --
said they might be responsible for some of the questionable applications.
ACORN works with low- and moderate-income families on housing and other issues.
The Denver office was involved in a voter registration drive.” (John
Sanko, “3 Prosecutors Join Voter Fraud Probe,” Rocky Mountain News,
8/7/04)
ACORN May Have
Submitted Fraudulent Voter Registration Applications In Colorado, Where State
Prosecutors Are Investigating Possible Fraud. “A Denver-based community activist group said Thursday it
may be responsible for some of the potentially fraudulent voter registration
applications being investigated by state prosecutors. ‘We fear that some of
these cards may have been submitted from our office. We are investigating the
situation and reviewing our systems to see if this is the case,’ wrote Betty
Wilkins, board chairwoman of Colorado ACORN. ACORN -- the Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now -- is the nation’s largest community
organization of low- and moderate-income families. Among other programs, the
group recruits and pays people to register voters. Wilkins wrote Secretary
of State Donetta Davidson after learning that Davidson has forwarded hundreds
of voter registration forms to Attorney General Ken Salazar’s office for
investigation. The state probe centers on suspicious forms filed in at least
four Denver metro-area counties with problems ranging from phony addresses to
suspicious signatures. In some cases, several applications were apparently
filled out by the same person. In her letter, released late Thursday to The
Denver Post, Wilkins asked to meet with Davidson ‘to discuss this matter.’ She
wrote that her group is ‘very concerned about the possibility of erroneous or
fraudulent voter registration forms being submitted.’ … Earlier in the day,
Colorado ACORN head organizer Bret Ericson said he didn’t know of any problems
with his group’s voter registration drive ‘other than a few duplicate’
application forms. He said ACORN employs about 50 people in Colorado to
register voters. It pays them $8 an hour with a bonus of $1 more per hour for
those who sign up more than five new voters, he said.” (Susan
Greene, “Group Fears Ties To Bad Voter Forms,” The Denver Post, 8/6/04)
ACORN Sued For
Disenfranchising Florida Residents. “ACORN was sued on Friday by two lawyers in
Fort Lauderdale for disenfranchising 11 South Florida residents, one from
Broward and 10 from Miami-Dade, by taking their completed voter registration
forms and not turning them in. The
lawsuit alleges that the registration drive was a subterfuge, the real motive
being to gather signatures for the successful petition to get the minimum-wage
increase on the ballot. It accuses the organization of illegally paying workers
for each voter they registered and selling the names to a union-based group in
Washington, D.C.. The case sets up a possible challenge of the minimum wage
ballot item, if it passes. ‘These are first-time voters from the underclass,
and they screwed them,’ said William Scherer Jr., a Republican operative and
lawyer who filed the case with attorney Stuart Rosenfeldt. He said the
residents are a mixed group politically, and all but one of them black.” (Brittany Wallman, “Voter
Registration Drive A Subterfuge, Lawsuit Claims,” Sun-Sentinel,
10/30/04)
Florida Chamber
Of Commerce Has Own Evidence Pointing To ACORN Fraud, Including Registering Of
Felons And Fraudulent Registration Forms. “One group, the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has been named by
Republicans, Hood and the FDLE as a source of the problem. The group registered
212,298 voters in Florida, but is now being investigated by the FDLE. The Florida Chamber of Commerce, which
opposes ACORN’s efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum
wage, has gathered its own evidence against the group and alleges it tried to
register felons to vote or turned in fraudulent registration forms. ‘It’s so
widespread. It just seems to be a systemic approach to take advantage of our
lax registration laws,’ said Mark Wilson, the chamber’s vice president.” (Brendan Farrington,
“Accusations Of Fraud, Wrongdoing Abound Ahead Of Nov. 2 Election,” The
Associated Press, 10/30/04)
Mac Stuart, A
Former Miami-Dade Field Director For ACORN, Said There Was “A Lot Of Fraud
Committed” And Republican Voter Registrations Were “Routinely Kicked
Back.” “A field director for one of the many
national partisan organizations trying to drum up votes in Florida admits to
routine efforts to rig the outcome. They include submitting thousands of
invalid voter registration cards, as well as failing to turn in boxes of cards
filled out to register Republicans.
‘There was a lot of fraud committed,’ said Mac Stuart, former Miami-Dade
field director for ACORN. Among his allegations -- that ACORN ‘quality control’
workers routinely kicked back Republican voter registrations while paying for
Democratic ones. ‘They said they had enough,’ he said.” (Paige
St. John, “Rumors Of Vote Fraud Rampant,” Florida Today, 10/2/04)
ACORN Workers
Held On To Voter Registrations. FOX NEWS’ MAJOR GARRETT: “Mac Stuart used to
work for the left wing group ACORN in Miami. He was in charge of collecting
petitions there to put an initiative on the ballot to boost the state’s minimum
wage. Recently, a current ACORN employee brought him this box of voter
registrations to prove that ACORN was mishandling a voter registration
drive.” FORMER ACORN EMPLOYEE MAC
STUART: “They had them stored somewhere; most likely copied them.” GARRETT: “Stuart
said it was common for ACORN to store hundreds, if not thousands of voter
registration forms for weeks at a time and then photocopy them. The photocopies
were sent to ACORN’s national headquarters because the group paid by the
petition or registration form.” (Fox News’ “Special
Report,” 10/27/04)
ACORN Workers
Told To Back Date Petitions, A Violation Of State Law. FOX
NEWS’ MAJOR GARRETT: “[Former ACORN employee Mac] Stuart also said ACORN
advised workers to back date petitions, a violation of state law. STUART: “This
was standard procedure. This was standard procedure on a daily basis.” (Fox
News’ “Special Report,” 10/27/04)
Box Of 180 ACORN
Voter Registrations Surface. “A box containing almost 180 voter
registrations filled out in the Miami area in July and August surfaced on
Tuesday, leading to more questions for a group that allegedly sponsored the
registrations. The forms were turned in
to a Fort Lauderdale attorney by Mac William Stuart, a convicted felon and
former employee of the voter-registration group Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced last week
that it was conducting a statewide investigation of ACORN’s voter drive. ACORN
has been accused of mishandling voter registration in its Project Vote, a
national effort to get low- and moderate-income and minority voters on the
rolls. … Stuart said Tuesday that a friend of his at the Miami ACORN office
called him and gave him the box. Stuart turned the box over to his attorney,
Fort Lauderdale attorney Stuart Rosenfeldt. Rosenfeldt said he is considering
his legal options.” (Brittany
Wallman and Alva James-Johnson, “180 Registration Forms Surface In South
Florida,” [South Florida] Sun-Sentinel, 10/27/04)
ACORN A Target
Of Statewide Investigation Of Voter Irregularities In Florida.
“The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Thursday said the Association
of Community Organizations For Reform Now, or ACORN, is a target of a statewide
investigation of voter irregularities. The group faces criminal investigations in a half-dozen other
states over voter registration and petition signatures gathered by its
employees.” (Lucy Morgan, “Group Faces Accusations Of
Broken Voting Laws,” St. Petersburg Times, 10/22/04)
ACORN Consultant
Left Group After “He Grew Increasingly Uncomfortable With ACORN’s Methods.” “Joe Johnson, a veteran St. Petersburg
political consultant hired by ACORN earlier this year to run the Florida
campaign, said he was repeatedly told that helping Democrats was the main
goal. ‘Even if we lost the election, we
would still be winning by building critical mass,’ Johnson said. Johnson left the campaign in August and says
he grew increasingly uncomfortable ACORN’s methods. One concern: the group’s
failure to turn in complete voter registration cards.” (Lucy Morgan, “Group
Faces Accusations Of Broken Voting Laws,” St. Petersburg Times,
10/22/04)
ACORN Being
Investigated In St. Petersburg, Florida, For Changing Party Affiliations On
Applications. “In St. Petersburg, the state attorney’s
office is investigating allegations that the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now, a group pushing the minimum-wage ballot
initiative, fraudulently changed party affiliations on voter-registration
applications.” (Dara Kam, “Voter Registration Process Causes
Concern,” The Palm Beach Post, 10/7/04)
In One Florida
County, “The Majority Of The Late Registration Forms, Including More Than 2,100
In Pinellas, Came From ACORN.” “More
than 2,500 Pinellas County residents and another 1,500 Hillsborough residents
who thought they had registered for the Aug. 31 primary were notified they
couldn’t vote because the groups that helped them register failed to turn in
their applications on time. The majority of the late registration forms,
including more than 2,100 in Pinellas, came from ACORN.” (Tom Zucco, “Activist
Group Blamed For Voter Roll Goofs,” St. Petersburg Times, 10/4/04)
Former St.
Petersburg Mayor Charles Schuh Was
Fraudulently Registered By ACORN. “About
a week after Jean Schuh got a phone call from ACORN, Charles Schuh received a
letter from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office saying it had
received his application form ‘as part of a voter registration drive’ and that
the form was sent in too late to allow him to vote in the Aug. 31 primary. As Charles Schuh later put it, ‘They picked
the wrong person to mess with.’ A St.
Petersburg attorney, Schuh served six years on the City Council and was the
city’s mayor from 1975-77. Schuh tried unsuccessfully to contact ACORN, and
then took the letter and his voter registration card to the supervisor of
elections. He was shown the ACORN
application form. Much of the information was wrong. ‘And that was certainly not my signature,’ Schuh said. ‘I told
them it was a blatant case of voter fraud and forgery, and someone ought to be
taken to task for that.’” (Tom Zucco, “Activist Group Blamed For Voter
Roll Goofs,” St. Petersburg Times, 10/4/04)
Detroit Free
Press Editorial
Scolds PIRGIM And Project Vote. “Officials describe instances of pretty
obvious fraud, produced, it would appear, by people motivated by money rather
than the noble cause of engaging more citizens in democracy. At least four
Michigan counties have been alerted about attempts to add fraudulent, duplicative
or otherwise phony names to the voter rolls. … Officials of two of the
organizations conducting voter registration drives, PIRGIM -- the Public
Interest Research Group in Michigan -- and Project Vote say only a handful of
collectors and a relatively small number of registrations are at issue. Perhaps so, but the integrity of a system is
at stake.” (Editorial,
“Voter Fraud: Phony Registrations Are Yet Another Blow To System,” Detroit
Free Press, 9/27/04)
o
Project
Vote/ACORN Director Claimed Low Error Rate.
“Project Vote’s
[national director David] Leland said workers from the offices of the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which are
collecting registrations in Michigan, had produced nearly 70,000 new
registrations with a very low error rate.” (Dawson Bell, “Campaign
Workers Suspected Of Fraud,” Detroit Free Press, 9/23/04)
Former Minnesota
ACORN Employee’s Car Contained Hundreds Of Voter Registration Cards In
Trunk. “When police at Minneapolis-St. Paul
International Airport stopped a man for running a stop sign late last month,
they found an unusual stash in his car trunk: More than 300 voter registration
cards that had been filled out but never submitted to the Minnesota secretary
of state. The motorist allegedly told police that he was an ex-employee of
ACORN…” (Patrick Sweeney,
“Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
St. Louis
Elections Board Investigating More Than 1,000 Suspicious Voter Registration
Cards Turned In By ACORN Workers.
“The St. Louis Election Board has discovered more than 1,000 suspicious new
voter registrations from a pile of more than 5,000 turned in by a local
activist group. And board employees expect to uncover more, since more than
a third of the targeted voter-registration cards have yet to be examined. All
the registrations had been collected by local workers employed by the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- also known as ACORN.
The group conducted a voter-registration drive all summer and turned in the
cards last month. The group sent in another batch of 500 voter-registration
cards this week that also are suspect, said Keena Carter, the Election Board’s
deputy Democratic director. Many were filled by people who gave addresses in
Illinois or elsewhere in Missouri, she said.” (Jo Mannies,
“Voter Registration Fraud Dogs City,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/19/03)
Kansas City
Chapter Of ACORN Fired “Five Or Six Employees” For Submitting Fraudulent Voter
Registrations. “The Kansas City chapter of the Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which works primarily with
inner-city residents, gives its paid staffers a quota of 20 voter registrations
during a five-hour period and pays a bonus of $1.50 per registration for each
voter above that, said Andrew Ginsberg, ACORN’s head organizer in Kansas
City. But the bonuses can also provide
an incentive to cheat. Ginsberg said
his group has fired five or six employees - and turned their names over to
police - for submitting fraudulent voter registrations. In one case, an
employee simply made up names. In other cases, employees were intentionally
double-registering people, Ginsberg said.”
(David A. Lieb, “Political Groups Using Incentives
To Encourage Voter Registration,” The Associated Press, 6/27/04)
Voter Not On
List Blames Joking ACORN Employee For Not Submitting Registration Card. “Ingrid Bober, who lives in North Albuquerque Acres, said she
waited in line for more than two hours Saturday to cast a ballot at an early
voting site in Northeast Albuquerque. She said she never voted because election
workers said she wasn’t on the list of registered voters. Bober said a campaign worker registered her
to vote at Cottonwood Mall in February. She now believes that worker never
turned in her card, possibly because she is a Republican. In fact, Bober said,
the worker – who wore an ACORN button – joked about Bober being a Republican. (Dan McKay and Andy
Lenderman, “County’s Early-Polling Places ‘Slammed’ With Voters, Calls” Albuquerque
Journal, 10/19/04)
ACORN
Registration Forms Found In Apartment During Drug Bust. “A
search of a northeast Albuquerque apartment as part of a drug investigation led
to the discovery of about a dozen voter registration forms, police said. The
forms were filled out and had dates from late last month, Albuquerque police
said. Authorities had not determined the authenticity of the forms. The occupant of the apartment, a Cuban
national, was arrested on drug charges. He told authorities he obtained the
documents while working for the Association of Communities Organized for Reform
Now or ACORN.” (“Albuquerque
Police Find Voter Registration Forms At Albuquerque Apartment,” The
Associated Press, 10/16/04)
Two Bernalillo,
New Mexico, County Teenagers – Aged 13 And 15 – Received Voter Registration
Cards In Mail. “Glen Stout
was surprised when his son’s first voter-registration card arrived in the mail
a couple of weeks ago. After all, his son is only 13. What’s more, the Postal
Service delivered two more voter cards to Stout’s Albuquerque residence – for a
15-year-old who lives across the street. The puzzling cards are an example of
the problems election workers are facing this election as they deal with
thousands of voter-registration forms that are being filed each week with the
Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office.” (Dan McKay, “Kids Find
Themselves Registered To Vote In Bernalillo County,” Albuquerque Journal,
8/20/04)
ACORN Leader
Pleaded The Fifth In New Mexico Court Case.
“Matthew Henderson,
of the Association of Communities Organized for Reform Now, or ACORN, did not
answer— under his lawyer’s advice— when asked about ACORN’s handling of voter
registration forms.” (Andy
Lenderman, “Fight Over Voter ID Heats Up” Albuquerque Journal, 9/19/04)
In 2002, ACORN
Admitted Submitting “Numerous Flawed Voter Registration Cards To The Bernalillo
County Clerk’s Office,” But Said Clerk’s Office Requires Them To Submit Flawed
Cards. “Jaime Diaz has been
through this before. The Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections administrator
has an inch-thick file on one of the county’s most aggressive
voter-registration groups ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now. In his file are hundreds of examples of new voter-registration
cards, filed in 2002 by ACORN workers, that contain errors or mistakes. The
community organizing group, which has offices across the country, acknowledged
Friday that it has turned in numerous flawed voter registration cards to the
Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office. ACORN does so, officials said, because it was
asked to by the Clerk’s Office. ‘We find problems with our cards because we
fraud-check every card,’ said Matthew Henderson, head organizer with ACORN in
New Mexico. ‘But the county clerk insists we turn in every one. ‘We could have
someone fill out a card that says ‘Mickey Mouse’ on it and we’d have to turn it
in,’ Henderson said. The problematic cards are creating headaches for Diaz
and his staff, and concern for Bernalillo Sheriff Darren White. … To date,
Bernalillo County has received thousands of new voter registration cards.
According to a review of the county clerk’s log books, ACORN leads the way on
requesting blank voter registration cards to fill out. Henderson estimates
that his group has filed about 25,000 new voter registration forms this year.
It does so with paid staff members who are given bonuses for turning in extra
voter forms. Seana Silver, a crew leader with ACORN, said Friday the
typical ACORN voter registration worker earns $8 per hour. Workers who register
24 voters in a day get a $50 bonus for that day’s work. On Friday she turned in
301 new voter registrations for the group. County workers immediately
identified three with discrepancies in them. ‘Whenever there is a massive voter
education effort, there could be some problems with some cards,’ said Helene
O’Brien, a national field director for ACORN.” (Shea Andersen,
“Flawed Voter Sign-Ups Piling Up,” Albuquerque Tribune, 8/7/04)
ACORN Under
Investigation In North Carolina; One Worker “Faked Over 70 Registrations.” “As
many as 60,000 voters may be registered to cast ballots in both Carolinas --
and officials aren’t checking. … N.C. officials are currently investigating two
groups that appear to have submitted fake voter registration cards, including
an organization in Charlotte. An advocacy group known as ACORN (Association of
Community Organizations For Reform Now) has had trouble across the country
because it pays workers to register voters, and some have decided to pad their
work. The group’s chief organizer in
Charlotte discovered a few weeks ago that one worker had faked about 70
registrations. The employee was fired and the information turned over to the
state board, which is investigating. A
similar problem with a consumer-interest group in Wake County -- in which a
15-year-old boy was among those signed up to vote -- was also turned over to
state officials.” (Scott Dodd And Ted Mellnik, “Voters Found On Both
N.C., S.C. Rolls,” The Charlotte Observer, 10/24/04)
ACORN And Other Group Registrations In
Franklin County, Ohio, Include Dead Person, 25 Addresses For The Same Man, And
Suspected Terrorist. “Hundreds of cases of suspected election
fraud are under review in Franklin County. … One application being examined was
signed in the name of a man who passed away in February. Another 25
applications show different addresses for the same man. Six of the suspicious
forms were submitted by representatives of the Columbus Urban League, while 62
others came from ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now. … And you might recognize the name of Nuradin Abdi. He’s a native of Somalia charged with
plotting to blow up a Columbus mall. ‘As far as board of elections is
concerned, Abdi is a registered voter,’ board of elections director Matt
Damschroeder said. We now know according to federal officials, he’s an illegal
alien. That would mean he can’t legally
vote. But the Franklin County Board of
Elections had no way of checking that when they sent him a voter registration
card early this year.” (“Suspected Terrorist Registered To Vote In
Franklin County,” WBNS-TV, http://www.10tv.com,
Accessed 10/23/04)
Similar
Handwriting And False Addresses Found On ACORN Cards In Hamilton County,
Ohio. “Hamilton County election officials will
meet this morning to discuss 19 voter registrations for people who may not
exist, which would be a rare case of election fraud. … Board of Elections
Director John Williams subpoenaed those named on the voter registration cards
after similar handwriting and false addresses raised election workers’
suspicions. The sheriff’s department could not find them, he said. The cards
were turned in, Williams said, by someone affiliated with the Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a group that represents
low-income people.” (Cindi
Andrews, “Alleged Fraudulent Voter Cards Scrutinized,” Cincinnati Enquirer,
10/8/04)
ACORN Turned In
Registration Cards Past Deadline In Columbus, Ohio. “Officials in
Columbus are also investigating possible improprieties by an ACORN worker
there. … [ACORN employee Dierdre] Murch said she took 526 new voter
registrations to the board of elections late Thursday that the group found in a
mismarked box and are asking the board to accept even though the deadline was
Monday.” (Cindi Andrews, “Alleged Fraudulent Voter Cards
Scrutinized,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/8/04)
ACORN Was Forced
To Fire Workers After Several “Blatantly False” Voter Registration Forms Were
Filed With Elections Officials In Columbus, Ohio. “Two workers with a voter registration
drive have been fired over several dozen forms submitted to Franklin County
elections officials that were duplicates or had false information, the group’s
organizer said. The Columbus branch of Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now, or ACORN, also agreed Wednesday to perform extra checks on
forms turned in by its voter-registration workers before submitting them to the
Franklin County Board of Elections. Group organizer Katy Gall said the
problems were traced through initials on registration cards to three workers.
The third worker already had quit. Gill also said the group will cooperate with
prosecutors if authorities want to charge the workers. … ACORN representatives
met Wednesday with Board of Elections officials and pledged to educate
employees, require them to wear identification and check all new registrations
before submitting them to the county, board director Matthew Damschroder said.
ACORN has about 40 workers in the city. The county typically finds fewer than a
dozen false registrations a year, he said. Damschroder said several
‘blatantly false’ forms were turned in by the voter registration effort, in
which the nationwide Project Vote uses local ACORN offices to collect
registrations. Workers paid $6.25 hourly have registered 23,000 new voters
in the county since fall. Some forms have an existing voter’s name with the
wrong birth date and Social Security number, and some list fake first names the
same last name and address of an existing voter. The board also found forgeries
when comparing forms with the images of signatures on file for more than
750,000 Franklin County voters, said Libbie Worley, manager of voter services.”
(“Two Voter Registration Drive Workers Fired Over Fake Forms,” The
Associated Press, 6/3/04)
Warrant Issued
For Ohio ACORN Employee Who Forged Signature On Voter Registration Form. “A
warrant was issued for a parolee accused of forging a signature on a voter
registration form, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said Tuesday. …
Dooley was employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now, or ACORN, associated with the nonprofit Project Vote, a national group
that registers low-income and minority voters, O’Brien said.” (“Warrant Issued For
False Registration,” The Associated Press, 9/7/04)
Berks County
Official Received Calls From Citizens Stating ACORN Deliberately Putting
Inaccurate Info On Forms. “[Berks
County Director of Elections V. Kurt] Bellman said his office has had numerous
calls from people who were registered through a group called the Association
Communication Organization for Reform Now (ACORN), complaining that those
taking down the voter information deliberately put inaccurate information on
the form.” (Sharon
Spohn, “Voter Fraud Suspected In Registration Deluge,” The Mercury,
10/8/04)
Four Project
Vote/ACORN Members Had Registrar Status Revoked In Wisconsin. “Acting Racine City Clerk Carolyn Moskonas
revoked the registrar status of the four Project Vote workers and requested the
investigation by the district attorney’s office. She said she was concerned
about the irregularities but emphasized that the deputy registrar generally has
worked well for years.” (Tom
Kertscher, “Registration Fraud Takes Advantage Of Security Rules,” Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, 10/3/04)
Project Vote/ACORN
Cards Under Investigation For Potentially Forged Signatures In Wisconsin. “A
group that says it has registered 30,000 voters in southeastern Wisconsin could
face a criminal investigation because of voter registration applications that
may have been filed fraudulently.
Acting Racine City Clerk Carolyn Moskonas said Tuesday she will ask the
district attorney’s office to investigate at least six voter registration
applications filed by Project Vote.
… Moskonas said that in each of
the six potential fraud cases, the people named on the Project Vote
applications told her office they had not signed the forms and had not been
contacted by any voter registration drives.” (Tom Kertscher, “Voter Registration Drive
Comes Under Scrutiny,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/28/04)
ACORN Has
Multiple Components With Different Tax Designations:
o
Project
Vote’s Website Notes That It Has 501(c) 3 Tax Status Because It Is
“Non-Partisan” And Doesn’t “Help Candidates Or Parties.” “Project Vote is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan,
nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible – because we don’t
help candidates or parties. We do remind new voters that the candidates they
elect make government policy that impacts their lives.” (Project
Vote Website, www.projectvote.org,
Accessed 8/6/04)
o
Project
Vote, Which Spent $1 Million In 2000, Expected To Spend $16 Million In 2004. (Michael
Moss and Ford Fessenden, “Interest Groups Mounting Costly Push To Get Out
Vote,” The New York Times, 10/20/04)
501(c) 4, 5
& 6 Organizations Are Not Required To Publicly Disclose Their
Contributors. These organizations are required to disclose
their donors to the IRS but not to the public.
They file IRS Form 990 annually, which requires disclosure of revenues,
total political spending and other financial and organizational
information. The three most recent Form
990s must be made publicly available by these organizations. The deadline for filing Form 990 is 5 months
and 15 days after the end of an organization’s fiscal year. (IRS Charitable
Organizations Website, http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/index.html,
Accessed 10/7/03; Call To IRS, 10/5/03)
ACORN Claims To
Be 80 Percent Self-Sufficient, Deriving Majority Of Funds From Members’ Dues,
Raffles And Other Events.
“ACORN’s membership pays for the organization. Knowing that a poor people’s
organization can’t rely on outside support, ACORN has always been committed to
the principle of financial self-sufficiency. The organization is now 80%
self-sufficient, deriving its funds primarily from members’ dues, raffles, ad
sales, dinners, and other events.” (ACORN Website, www.acorn.org, Accessed 8/6/04)
According To
Capital Research Center, ACORN Has Accepted Hundreds Of Thousands From A Wide
Range Of Foundations And Corporations:
J.P. Morgan & Company $10,000 1998
Chase Manhattan $100,000 1995
California
Endowment $248,200
2002
California Wellness
Foundation $200,000 2002
James Irvine
Foundation $105,000
2002
Rosenberg
Foundation $50,000
2002
Meyer Memorial
Trust $35,000 2002
Minneapolis
Foundation $25,000 2002
New York Community
Trust $11,000 2002
James Irvine Foundation
$450,000 2001
Annie E. Casey
Foundation $60,000 2001
Rosenberg
Foundation $55,000
2001
Public Welfare
Foundation $45,000 2001
New York Community
Trust $40,000 2001
Open Society
Institute $25,000
2001
Annie E. Casey Foundation
$20,000 2001
Evelyn & Walter
Jr. Fund Haas $20,000 2001
New York Community
Trust $13,600 2001
Prince Charitable
Trusts $10,000 2001
Annie E. Casey
Foundation $65,000 2000
Edna McConnell
Clark Foundation $60,000 2000
Surdna Foundation $50,000 2000
Rosenberg
Foundation $50,000
2000
New York Community
Trust $45,000 2000
Annie E. Casey
Foundation $45,000 2000
Richard & Rhoda
Goldman Fund $25,000 2000
Annie E. Casey
Foundation $20,000 2000
Public Welfare Foundation
$20,000 2000
San Francisco
Foundation $20,000 2000
Evelyn & Walter
Jr. Fund Haas $20,000 2000
James Irvine
Foundation $150,000
1999
California Wellness
Foundation $100,000 1999
Public Welfare
Foundation $90,000 1999
Rosenberg
Foundation $50,000
1999
Annie E. Casey
Foundation $30,000 1999
Public Welfare
Foundation $30,000 1999
Saint Paul
Foundation $25,000
1999
Albert A. List
Foundation $25,000 1999
Annie E. Casey
Foundation $25,000 1999
Public Welfare
Foundation $20,000 1999
Scherman Foundation
$15,000 1999
Evelyn & Walter
Jr. Fund Haas $15,000 1999
Boston Foundation $12,500 1999
Boston Foundation $12,500 1999
Saint Paul
Foundation $10,000
1998
Bell Atlantic
Foundation $5,000 1998
BankBoston
Charitable Foundation $50,000 1996
BT Foundation $1,000 1996
Chase Manhattan
Foundation $40,000 1995
BankAmerica
Foundation $115,000 1994
BankBoston
Charitable Foundation $23,000 1994
(Capital Research Center Website, www.capitalresearch.org,
Accessed 8/8/04)