The sound of the shredders is getting louder!!

By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer Sharon Theimer, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 4 mins ago
WASHINGTON – An advocacy group under fire after employees were caught on camera appearing to advise a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp to lie about the woman's profession to get housing help said Wednesday it is ordering an independent investigation.

The group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, said it is refusing new admissions into its service programs.

ACORN will work with its advisory council, which includes prominent supporters of President Barack Obama, such as John Podesta, president of the nonprofit Center for American Progress, and Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, to name an independent auditor and investigator, ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement.

The investigation will examine all the systems and processes called into question by the video, Lewis said.

In addition, ACORN won't accept new admissions into its community service programs, effective immediately, and within the next few days will conduct staff training, she said.

Lewis said the steps were being taken in response to "the indefensible action of a handful of our employees."

The moves are among several developments in recent days involving ACORN, a liberal-leaning group that is a popular target for Republicans. In addition to the hidden-camera video, it is under scrutiny for several voter-registration fraud cases.

Some Republicans are urging the Justice Department to investigate ACORN. The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, and the Census Bureau last week severed its ties with the group for the 2010 national head-count.

Asked Wednesday about the controversy, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that "obviously the conduct that you see on those tapes is completely unacceptable."

"I think everyone would agree with that. The administration takes accountability extremely seriously," Gibbs said. "I think the Census Bureau evaluated and determined that this group could not meet the bureau's goal of achieving a fair and accurate count in 2010."

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said he's asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repeal a nearly $1 million grant it awarded to ACORN earlier this month.

FEMA awarded $997,402 to ACORN in New Orleans on Sept. 4 as part of its Fire Prevention and Safety Grants program. The group plans to use the money to assess fire safety in the homes of low and moderate-income families and hand out smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and other fire prevention gear, ACORN's Brennan Griffin said.

FEMA had no immediate comment on Bilirakis' request.

Gibbs said he assumed that federal agencies "constantly evaluate to ensure that any grantee is living up to what has to happen in order to fulfill that grant application."

The video released Monday was among several that have prompted the firing of at least four ACORN employees in Baltimore and Washington. It was created by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles and posted on BigGovernment.com, where O'Keefe identifies himself as an activist filmmaker. ^^^^^^Give 'em a reward!!^^^ They gonna' save the Tax Payer big bucks!!

In the film, O'Keefe and Giles enter an ACORN office in Brooklyn and O'Keefe can be heard stating that "we have a unique life situation" and asking if the pair qualify for housing help.

The ACORN housing coordinator and office administrator apparently urge the couple to lie about the woman's profession, with the housing coordinator suggesting that the woman launder the money.

"We have all been deeply disturbed by what we've seen in some of these videos," Lewis said, adding that the group "will go to whatever lengths necessary to re-establish the public trust."

Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Eileen Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report.

ACORN: http://www.acorn.org

ACORN investigating itself would be like the FED auditing themselves.
Now that I'm done plssin' my pants!

OK wouldn't this be some kind of conflict of interests, Obama worked for Acorn, and fully supports Acorn, and they helped him get into office, along with alot of other democrats...

what say you?

WGASA

Obama working for Acorn "In 1995, Obama helped represent ACORN in a successful lawsuit to require the state of Illinois to offer "motor voter" registration at DMV offices."

Acorn helped him get into office. The Obama campaign paid Citizens Services Inc., a group affiliated with ACORN, for get-out-the-vote (not voter registration) efforts during the primary election.


http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/acorn_accusations.html

Some folks would yank life support from old ladies being helped by Acorn if it meant they could shut acorn down this minute. Lets punish everyone that is being cared for by Acorn so the Republicans can say they brought down their enemy that lost them the election.

They did blame them didn't they? Hmm can't remember now. Couldn't have been their attitudes that lost the election, had to be something like Acorn.

That would be some measure of sweet revenge if they could pull it off. Are there any sane republicans anymore?

The whole org. is corrupt to da' bone. Investigations will reveal this.
It's common knowledge, BHO was their Legal advisor and he had trained workers.
I sure hope that RICO Act applies. That would put a lot of 'em in th' can for life.
Your analogy and logic is what is used to keep the Catholic Church alive.
Forget how many kids are raped by Priests, the Chuch does good things.

I didnt realize that hidden video thing was done in several cities and caught them all trying to defraud the system. I thought it was only one

ACORN has an established history of a pattern of fraud and abuse

it's not like one or two isolated incidents but twenty years of indictments and arrests in almost every state in America

maybe they do some good too but there is just too much smoke for there not to be a fire

The whole organization is not corrupt to the bone.

They've done some good work in St. Louis over the years!!

Like I said, the Investigations should prove it is. Just a prediction.

If this was an organization that might cause you some embarrassment I bet you would be screaming for us to calm down and let the investigators do their job. You wouldn't be so ready to jump the gun if it was an organization that served people you prefer. So you really aren't fooling anyone, this is about bringing Obama down and not much more.

I want this investigated too, but I am not inpressed with how the republicans are using this to gain political favor. Their supporters maybe ignorant enough to punish a whole orgainzation for what a few do, but I am not willing to and I dont' know all that much abou Acorn. Why don't you just let the authorities do their job and then make an informed decision as to whether the whole org is bad?

Being a trainer doesn't mean Obama would trained them to do what these women did, but of course if one wants to make Obama look guilty I suppose that is what one would insinuate. Thankfully people are smarter than that.

I didn't hear that is was all the offices, but then I have not been following it and I am not in the position to see what's going on first hand. It was done in several cities but it was not clear every office engaged in similar practices. In fact considering who did the investigating I would be just a bit suspicious if they found every office was doing it.

Of course if it was happening in every state in america then of course it should be dealt with. Where did you get your info from Quite? Just curious.

"As for "teaching classes" for the group, the McCain campaign cites a March 2008 Newsday article, which says that ACORN organizer Madeleine Talbot "initially considered Obama a competitor" when both were working to get asbestos insulation removed from a Chicago housing project, but that "she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff." Newsday does not say whether Obama accepted the invitation. An article by Chicago alderman Toni Foulkes says that "we [ACORN] have invited Obama to our leadership training sessions to run the session on power every year" between 1992 and 2004, when the article was written. The Obama campaign says that Obama participated in two, one-hour trainings in a volunteer capacity. Foulkes could not be reached for comment."

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/acorn_accusations.html

Obama may have participated in two, one-hour trainings.

Your wasting time again, Missy. The point to all this about Acorn is less about Acorn than attaching acorn's problem to Obama. If they are in the wrong, go after them, because what was reported is repulsive, but I hope it doesnt' become just another witch hunt.

Come on. Here is the list of cities ( so far ) that ACORN workers have been busted in.

D.C.
Baltimore
New York
San Bernardino
San Diego

L.A and Chicago are still yet to be released, but they were busted as well.

I really don't care if this deal " brings down Obama " or not. The fact that all of those offices have had similar things happen within their walls shows, at the very least, that ACORN doesn't do anything at all to check out the people that work for them.

If ACORN loses it's government funding over this...well, maybe they should have been more careful about who they were allowing to be involved.

I mean, seriously, do you want your tax dollars going to an organization that allows a man who " has connections in Tiajuana " to help a " pimp " who wants to bring 13 - 15 year old girls across the border illegally to work in a brothel??

For me, this has absolutely nothing to do with Obama.

By the way. What does " who is doing the investigating " have to do with it? The fact is that the guy went in with a hidden camera, and ACORN workers have been busted. They suggested ways to, at minimum, skirt the very edges of the law and, at worst, flat out BREAK the laws of this country.

It doesn't matter who went in there.

September 15, 2009

Senator Christopher J. Dodd
Chairman
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Dodd:

I write to you today to request that you launch an immediate and thorough investigation into the activities of the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Specifically, this committee needs to determine if ACORN is acting legally and ethically in the expenditure of taxpayer dollars and whether the organization should continue to be eligible to receive these funds.

In recent days, numerous news reports have surfaced surrounding: 1) the arrest of individuals in Florida for falsifying voter applications while employed by ACORN, leading up to the 2008 elections; and 2) video of employees in ACORN offices of Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Brooklyn, New York, offering to falsify tax documents and to aid in obtaining a mortgage for individuals purporting to be engaged in prostitution and employing underage illegal immigrants.

These scandals add to numerous other reported incidences within the organization over many years including: embezzlement of nearly one million dollars by the brother of the organization’s founder; charges of additional voter registration fraud in other states; and the stripping of federal grants following findings that ACORN used federal money to promote legislation.

ACORN has been receiving federal money for decades including millions under the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Committee and is eligible for additional money now as a result of the stimulus legislation enacted earlier this year. As such, it is vital that the committee undertake a prompt review of the activities of this organization.

I look forward to working with you to ensure the American taxpayer’s money is being spent wisely and legally.

Sincerely,
Richard Shelby

Who is Richard Shelby?

Just another racist, I guess.
http://shelby.senate.gov/public/

While I agree with you that what the did was despicable and I definitely want it investigated, don't pretend that Willings multiple posts are just asking for investigation and nothing more. It's about Obama. Come on we're not stupid. I knew little about this organization until all the hoopla of the McCain Palin campaign and the elections. And them trying to tie Obama to it.

I said nothing that would indicate that I would not want this investigated or that it did not concern me. When someone fills their profile album with divisive caricatures of the president and posts multiple thread slamming Acorn it's not just about justice.

I would like to see the FBI investigate anyone who had a finger in the ACORN. Either clear 'em or Rico 'em.

I've been reading about ACORN investigations for 20 years

here are a few


ACORN Involved in Union Embezzlement -- In the late 1990s, ACORN's Project Vote was involved in an $850,000 embezzling scheme, where union funds and kickbacks were used to illegally aid the 1996 re-election bid of then- Teamsters President Ron Carey. A New York federal jury found the Teamsters political director guilty of the conspiracy.
Employment Pplicies Institute

ACORN bilks AmeriCorps -- In 1996, the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps program stripped a $1 million grant from the ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC). When applying, AHC had denied any connections to ACORN, since the grant was not intended for political advocacy organizations. Evidence later uncovered by the Inspector General found that not only was AHC created by ACORN, engaged
in numerous transactions with one another, and sharing staff and office space -- but it utilized the AmeriCorps grant to increase ACORN membership, a violation of federal guidelines.
Employment Pplicies Institute

Connecticut

* Officials in Connecticut are investigating ACORN after the name of a 7-year-old girl was found on a registration card as a 27 year old.[36]

* The Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission is investigating a complaint that ACORN submitted fraudulent voter registration cards in Bridgeport. The complaint was filed by Joseph Borges, the registrar of voters for Bridgeport. He says he "found problems with numerous voter registration cards submitted by" the group. ACORN filed over 8,000 cards in Bridgeport.[37]



Florida

In Orange County, Florida, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began in investigation in October2008 as to whether an ACORN worker forged an Orange County woman's signature on a voter registration form and then turned it in. A separate voter registration card for Mickey Mouse was turned in. ACORN workers in Florida report having a quota system under which they are paid $8.00/hour and must turn in 20 registration cards per work shift.[38]

In September 2009, 11 ACORN workers were accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on 888 voter registration forms.[20]



Indiana

ACORN submitted 5,000 voter registration forms in Lake County, Indiana in September and October 2008. Local election officials say that about half of the forms are fraudulent. Eric Weathersby, executive director of the group's Northwest Indiana office, said that workers were asked to bring in 20 registrations a day, but "it was not a quota they had to meet". Ruthann Hoagland of the Lake County election board said the first 2,100 cards they looked at were phony. "Everything on the card filled out looks exactly the same."[39],[40]



Louisiana

In June 2008, a spokesman from Project Vote, an ACORN affiliate, acknowledged that 35 percent of the cards turned into Louisiana officials were duplicates. One woman had five cards turned in for her, and told election officials that she had completed none of them.

On October 23, it was learned that 50% of the 8,600 voter registrations turned in by the national group Voting Is Power, affiliated with ACORN, were incomplete or incorrectly filled out. U.S. Senator David Vitter, R-Metairie, has asked the state's three U.S. attorneys and its FBI special agent in charge to launch investigations.[41]

Ernie Roberson, the Caddo Parish Registrar of Voters, said the group's registrations make up "better than 5 percent of the registered voter base in Caddo that just magically appeared in our office over a 10-day period." Many cards had names and addresses taken from the phone book, and information on them, such as ethnicity, Social Security numbers, dates of birth or signatures, were false, or in some cases came from people who have been dead for some time.

Of the cards:

* 65% (5,600) were deemed invalid.
* In Jefferson Parish, VIP turned in 2,689 cards, of which 1,135 — or 42 percent — were invalid."[41]



Michigan

The Michigan Secretary of State told the press in September that Acorn had submitted "a sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications."



Minnesota

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, ACORN staff in two counties, Hennepin and Ramsey, turned in forms past the 10-day window allowed. The Hennepin County Attorney's office said on October 14 that it is investigating whether a voter registration processing lapse at the Minnesota ACORN office falls within guidelines for criminal prosecution. The International Falls Daily Journal asked for an investigation.[42],[43],[44]



Missouri

In early October 2008, officials in Jackson County, Missouri, initiated an investigation of Acorn voter registrations. Charlene Davis, Jackson County's election board co-director said, "I don't even know the entire scope of it because registrations are coming in so heavy." The investigation discovered that more than 400 registration cards with false names and addresses were turned in by Acorn workers, and also identified in the one county about 100 duplicates, 280 addresses that don't exist, people who have driver's licenses that don't verify and Social Security numbers that don't verify. Some of the cards are without addresses.[45],[46] FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton has been in contact with Missouri election officials about an investigation.[46]

Eight ex-ACORNworkers pled guilty in federal court to fraud charges in April for submitting registrations in 2006 with fake names, fake addresses, and forged signatures. Each may be sentenced to up to five years in jail and significant fines.[47]



Nevada

In August 2009, ACORN's former Las Vegas field director, Christopher Edwards, agreed to testify against ACORN in a case in which Las Vegas election officials say 48% of the voter registration forms the group turned in were "clearly fraudulent."[20]

In October 2008, Nevada's Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller requested a raid on Acorn's offices, following complaints of false names and fictional addresses (including the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys).[48]

On July 7, 2008 the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that a Clark County, Nevada official "sees rampant fraud in the 2,000 to 3,000 registrations ACORN turns in every week.".[49]

The ACORN office in Nevada office was raided by law enforcement officials who were seeking additional information on accusations that the group had hired 59 felons and had submitted 30 apparently fraudulent registration cards. [50]

On October 6, a criminal investigator with the Nevada Secretary of State filed a search-warrant affidavit stating that ACORN hired 59 state prison inmates to collect voter-registration forms. These include:

* Jason Anderson, currently imprisoned for burglary and firearms violations at the state's Casa Grande halfway house in Las Vegas. Anderson was a team leader for ACORN, and told investigators that some of his co-workers "hired by ACORN were 'lazy crack-heads' who were not interested in working and just wanted the money."

* Darmela Jone who said she "submitted approximately 40 Voter Registration Applications while employed at ACORN and only 10 were real applications."

* An ACORN canvasser, according to the complaint, "was caught completing forms using names and addresses copied from the telephone book."

* A Nevada woman, Roberta Casteel, who had not registered to vote, learned that nevertheless a voter-registration application was submitted to the state by ACORN which included her name, driver's license number and Social Security number.[51]



New Mexico

On October 17, the Republican Party in New Mexico announced it had found 28 fraudulent voters in a Democratic primary earlier in 2008. The GOP said it looked at the data from 92 newly registered voters in the district, finding 28 that had "missing or inaccurate Social Security numbers or birth dates. In some cases, more than one voter was registered using the same Social Security number. In others, people who the Republicans said had no Social Security number on public record were registered." Before the primary, ACORN was one of the organizations registering voters in the area. State Rep. Justine Fox (R-Albuquerque) said, "This is a bombshell. We now have undeniable proof that a significant number of fraudulent voters were cast in Democrat primary races for the New Mexico state legislature as a result of ACORN’s voter registration fraud."[52][52][53] The vote took place in House District 13, where no Republican ran for the seat.

On September 17, the Bernalillo County clerk notified prosecutors that about 1,100 possibly fraudulent voter registration cards have been turned in to her office. The cards in question involve issues such as:

* The same name as a voter who’s already registered, but carry a different birth date or Social Security number.
* Listing a social security number for a different person than the person whose card it is supposed to be.
* Addresses that don’t exist.[54]

In August, the Albuquerque Journal reported that Acorn had turned in a forged card for Rebecca Sitterly, a former state District Court judge from Albuquerque who has been voting in the same place for nearly two decades.


North Carolina

In Durham, North Carolina, the State Board of Elections officials in early October investigated 100 voter registration forms submitted by a local branch of Acorn when "All of a sudden, I started seeing the same names over and over again", according to Mike Ashe, county elections director. He said some forms had similar names but different addresses or dates of birth.[55],[56]
Ohio

* The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections referred more 14 cases of potential voter registration fraud to the county prosecutor today as part of an investigation of suspicious registration cards submitted by ACORN.[57]

* Freddie Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio, testified before the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections that Acorn workers asked him to sign 73 voter registration forms. Johnson also told an Ohio newspaper that he was given cash and cigarettes by ACORN activists he described as "aggressive". John additionally testified that the Acorn workers told him they were paid by the signature, and that he was helping them earn additional pay by continuing to sign his name for them.[58],[59]

* On October 14, The Buckeye Institute filed a state RICO action against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on behalf of two Warren County, Ohio voters. The action filed in Warren County Court of Common Pleas alleges ACORN has engaged in a pattern of corrupt activity that amounts to organized crime. The lawsuit seeks ACORN’s dissolution as a legal entity, the revocation of any licenses in Ohio, and an injunction against fraudulent voter registration and other illegal activities.[60]



Pennsylvania

* Dauphin County: Luis Torres-Serrano is accused of submitting over hundred fraudulent voter registration forms he collected on behalf of ACORN. Authorities are offering a $2,000 award for information on the whereabouts of Torres-Serrano. He is charged with 19 counts of perjury, making false statements and identity theft. County law enforcement officials were alerted to the possible criminal actions by Dauphin County elections head Steven G. Chiavetta; he became aware of the problem when people contacted his office to ask why they had received a new voter registration form when they had never filled out a card.[61]

* Delaware County: A man working for ACORN was arrested on October 21 for submitting 18 false voter registration forms.[62] Also see Election Journal.

* Philadelphia: Official here are seeking an investigation into ACORN’s voter registration program because they "were fed up with false applications gumming up the works" and "specifically accused" ACORN of turning in bad paperwork. ACORN along with other organizations submitted over 250,000 registration forms in Philadelphia in 2008. Many were rejected because they were duplicates, but another 5,000 are questionable because of non-existent addresses. Others are being rejected due to incorrect birthdays, social security numbers, or because those registered are children. Some individuals close to the organization say that ACORN workers are judged by unspoken quotas, leading them to make up registration cards, a charge the organization is denying.[63]

* Pittsburgh: A Pittsburgh-area district attorney is probing ACORN voter registrations in the wake of complaints about possible forgery and irregularities in registration forms submitted by the group. an organization already under investigation in several states. [63]

* West Reading: An ACORN worker was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison for identity theft and tampering with records. A second ACORN worker pleaded not guilty to the same charges and is free on $10,000 bail.

* York: An ACORN worker in York was arrested for submitting 100 fraudulent registrations.[64]

* Statewide: ACORN turned in 78,376 voter applications from April 28, 2008 through October 6, 2008. As of October 24, 6,962 had been rejected by election officials for reasons other than duplication. An additional 80,000 voter applications were duplicates, including those turned in by Acorn and other groups.[65]

* Lawsuit: The Republican Party of Pennsylvania announced on October 17 that they were filing a lawsuit against Pedro Cortes and ACORN and its subsidiaries. The press conference to announce the lawsuit included former Supreme Court Justice and PAGOP Fair Elections Task Force Chair Sandra Newman. The basis for the lawsuit was a claim of voter dilution.[66] Craig Williams, who is a candidate in the 7th Congressional district and a former Federal prosecutor, is a co-plaintiff. Williams said, "Voter fraud is a crime against democracy and violates a critical tenet of our system of government: one person, one vote."[66] (See PAGOP Announces Lawsuit against ACORN/PA Secretary of Commonwealth).



Texas

ACORN turned in 30,000 registration cards ACORN in Harris County, Texas. Tax assesssor Paul Bettencourt reported that 33% are invalid and noted some specifics:

* A church was listed as the voter registration address for 150 people.
* About 250 cards listed the address of a homeless outreach center as their home address.[67]


Wisconsin

* Seven felons were hired by ACORN to register voters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Previous convictions were for robbery and cocaine possession. The seven had been designated as special registration deputies, allowing them to solicit and keep voter registration applications before turning them in to local election officials. One special registration deputy has a pending felony charge for heroin possession and another is facing a misdemeanor prostitution charge. A third was convicted of misdemeanor prostitution. The law says anyone who can vote can be a special registration deputy, and felons can vote as long as they are no longer on probation or parole. But the attorney for the Government Accountability Board, which runs elections, issued an April 3 memo saying the board’s staff believed convicted felons couldn’t serve in the role.[68]

* A criminal complaint accuses 29-year-old Frank Walton of Oak Creek with submitting 54 false voter registrations in June. Some of the registrations listed vacant buildings as addresses, others had false driver's license numbers and still others had false Social Security numbers. Others charged with vote fraud include Adam Mucklin for illegally registering to vote , and charges against Endalyn Adams, who worked for ACORN, for submitting dozens of fake voter registrations.[69]

* ACORN employee Adams is charged with submitting 45 forms, about twenty-seven or 60% of which contained information alleged to be false, including 19 voter forms listed persons that do not appear to exist, 19 voter registration forms were determined by police investigators to be nonexistent, 22 of the driver license numbers were fraudulent.[70]



Virginia

A voter-registration worker was indicted in Norfolk, Virginia, on October 16 for election fraud. The woman worked for the Community Voters Project, which is an ACORN affiliate. She was charged with three counts of felony election fraud for giving voter-registration applications containing false information to the Norfolk voter registrar’s office.[71]

Three members of the same group had previously been charged (in July 2008) with voter fraud after the registrar in Norfolk found irregularities with hundreds of applications submitted by eight to ten canvassers. The registrar has referred some of that paperwork to law enforcement. The problems in Hampton and Norfolk are said by a local newspaper to have been the result of a quota system used by the Community Voters Project. [71]

In Hampton, Virginia, election officials said on October 16 that "dubious applications are nothing new, but that this year the numbers are "off the charts." The phony applications are brazen, according to a local newspaper, involving behaviors such as listing fake names, addresses and phone numbers.[72] [72]




2007 allegations

* Ohio: A man in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, was indicted on two felony counts of illegal voting and false registration, after being registered by ACORN to vote in two separate counties.

* Washington: Three ACORN employees pleaded guilty, and four more were charged, in what some said was the worst case of voter registration fraud in Washington state history. More than 2,000 fraudulent voter registration cards were submitted by the group during a voter registration drive. To the left is a portion of the complaint filed against ACORN filed by Washington State Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Hobbs on July 16, 2007:


In July of 2008, the New York Times reported that Dale Rathke, ACORN's chief financial officer and brother of co-founder and (at the time) chief organizer Wade Rathke, had embezzled $948,000 from the group as of 2000. Further investigation indicated that ACORN executives, including Wade, had opted to sign a restitution agreement and have Dave pay back the money in annual increments of $30,000 rather than inform the police, government authorities or even the board members of the infraction. ACORN national president Maude Hurd and Wade Rathke have explained their conduct as being based in concern for the organization as a whole, not, according to Rathke himself, to protect his brother. Both Wade and Dale resigned their positions at ACORN soon after the story broke.[74]

-Ballotpedia

that was just in 2008

before 2008


2007

* In Washington, five Washington state ACORN workers were sentenced to jail time.[6] ACORN agreed to pay King County $25,000 for its investigative costs and acknowledged that the national organization could be subject to criminal prosecution if fraud occurs again. According to King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, the misconduct was done "as an easy way to get paid [by ACORN], not as an attempt to influence the outcome of elections."[7],[8]

* In Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Claudel Gilbert was indicted on two felony counts of illegal voting and false registration, after being registered by ACORN to vote in two separate counties. He pled guilty to the illegal voting charges, his lawyer claiming voter confusion rather than criminal intent. The charges of false registration were dropped by the Franklin County prosecutor's office. Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye sentenced Gilbert to probation for one year and fined him $500 but suspended a six-month prison sentence[9]

* In Missouri, four ACORN employees were indicted in Kansas City for charges including identity theft and filing false registrations during the 2006 election.

2006

* On November 1, 2006, four part-time ACORN employees were indicted in Kansas City, Missouri for voter registration fraud. Prosecutors said the indictments are part of a national investigation.[10] ACORN said in a press release that it is in part responsible in these individuals being caught, fired them, and cooperated and publicly supported efforts to look into the validity of the allegations.[11]

* ACORN was investigated in 2006 for submitting false voter registrations in St. Louis, Missouri. 1,492 fraudulent voter registrations were identified.[12],[13]

2005

* In Colorado in January 2005, two Colorado ACORN workers were sentenced to community service for submitting false voter registrations.[14] ACORN's regional director said, "we find it abhorrent and do everything we can to prevent it from happening."[15]

* In Virginia, the State Board of Elections admonished Project Vote and ACORN for turning in a significant number of faulty voter registrations. An audit revealed that 83% of sampled registrations that were rejected for carrying false or questionable information were submitted by Project Vote. Many of these registrations carried social security numbers that exist for other people, listed non-existent or commercial addresses, or were for convicted felons in violation of state and federal election law. In a letter to ACORN, the State Board of Elections reported that 56% of the voter registration applications ACORN turned in were ineligible. Further, a full 35% were not submitted in a timely manner, as required by law. The State Board of Elections also commented on what appeared to be evidence of intentional voter fraud. "Additionally,” they wrote, “information appears to have been altered on some applications where information given by the applicant in one color ink has been scratched through and re-entered in another color ink. Any alteration of a voter registration application is a Class 5 Felony in accordance with § 24.2-1009 of the Code of Virginia."

2004

* In Ohio in 2004, four ACORN employees were indicted by a federal grand jury for submitting false voter registration forms.[16]

* In Texas, ACORN turned in the voter registration form of David Young, who told reporters “The signature is not my signature. It’s not even close.” His social security number and date of birth were also incorrect.

* In Pennsylvania, the director of elections in Reading reported receiving calls from numerous individuals complaining that ACORN employees deliberately put inaccurate information on their voter registration forms. The Berks County director of elections said voter fraud was “absolutely out of hand,” and added: “Not only do we have unintentional duplication of voter registration but we have blatant duplicate voter registrations.” The Berks County deputy director of elections added that ACORN was under investigation by the Department of Justice.

* In Michigan, The Detroit Free Press reported that “overzealous or unscrupulous campaign workers in several Michigan counties are under investigation for voter-registration fraud, suspected of attempting to register nonexistent people or forging applications for already-registered voters.” ACORN-affiliate Project Vote was one of two groups suspected of turning in the documents.

* In Florida, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman said ACORN was “singled out” among suspected voter registration groups for a 2004 wage initiative because it was “the common thread” in the agency’s fraud investigations.