I've registered over 500 people to vote and have something to say about ACORN

[zulchzulu]

First of all, I have registered over 500 people to vote in the past months. It is a fantastic experience. There is nothing like registering someone to vote for the first time in their lives and they actually have tears in their eyes.

Having worked in grassroots politics since I was was a kid with my father dragging my brother, sister and myself in the foggy autumn streets in Wilmington, Delaware, I learned how it all matters on Election Day. I can vaguely remember that first victory party as someone less than 10 years old where the winning candidate addressed the crowd to thank them for helping him win.

I've done plenty of work since I was a kid back then and there have been as many tragic losses as euphoric victories in my political sojourns.

As for ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), there is lot to be said about their efforts. I worked a few weekends for them when I lived in San Francisco. All I can say is that the people that I worked with at ACORN were the some of the best people I have ever had the chance to work with. Yes, they hire people on the down and out to do efforts like registering people to vote.

The main thing about that is that the forms that are filled out are then scrutinized by the well-versed staff and then sent to to the local Elections Board staff, who check the forms for legitimate photo IDs, license numbers and addresses. Those forms are then submitted to the Electoral staff for their town and scrutinized again for validity.

It's a three-level validation process before a voter registration form is validated. The ACORN issue is nothing more than a sore-sport non-issue that the Republicans are using to validate their severe losses on November 4th.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I agree they have done a lot of good...but I do not think the repukes are looking for

a way to explain their loss. They are setting up an excuse to either steal the election, or justify a claim of election fraud.
One thing is for sure, they are trying very hard to deny millions of people of the right to vote for the candidate of their choice.

[zulchzulu]

6. Bingo!

They are using ACORN as an excuse because:

- They spin that ACORN people are "community organizers" and "black"

- ACORN is apparently rampant at stealing the vote in areas they arent' even in

[BlooInBloo]

2. Of course. It's tiresome that whenever republicans make shit up, DUers are among the first....

to actually conclude there's an actual problem.

[Cha]

3. A

Men..freakin' Tiresome.

[The Wielding Truth]

10. That's because we care to sort out fraud. We have to investigate.

If we let things go and didn't work to clear up a problem, it would be contrary to our nature.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. Thanks for all your work!

500 people - wow! Well done.

[hedgehog]

5. I recall reports of groups registering voters the last time around who

never got around to turning in the registrations. Laws were passed requiring all registrations to be in to the election boards within a time limit. ACORN reportedly looked over the registrations it received and flagged the phony ones when they were handed in.

[Fridays Child]

7. According to Fuck Snooze, ACORN is responsible for the mortgage industry meltdown...

...because they pressured lenders into making bad loans to unqualified borrowers. And, you know something? After hearing that report, I wanted to drive right over to the rich side of town and disgorge the contents of my checking account into the back seat of the Lincoln Navigator of the very first person I met. Wealthy people are so unfairly burdened by us predatory poor folks. I'm really just sick about the whole thing.

[O.M.B.inOhio]

8. Perhaps this is an opportunity for fast anti-fraud action!

Perhaps even if this is an excuse to purge votes, it can be turned around, with some kind of policy that would not only ensure that non-people cannot vote, but more importantly that all eligible citizens can. In Ohio, many, many provisional ballots were rejected. This was not because they were examined and determined to be illegitimate. No, the Boards of Elections in the counties were comprised of 2 dems (often DINOs) and 2 Repubs, and they would vote on whether to count provisionals from certain districts. The Repubs would vote NO on counting provisional ballots from minority and student areas -- again, without any examination of the ballots themselves. The Dems vote YES. The tiebreaker in Ohio in 2004 was Ken Blackwell, who also chaired Bush's re(sic)election committee, or somesuch. I participated in the recount and saw these uncounted ballots.
This is what the Repukes are after - an excuse to crack down on 3 joke registrations by un-registering 300,000 Democrats. Colorado, for instance, has a nasty SOS who is apparently removing names from the polls.

So maybe this ACORN nonsense is an opportunity to prepare for another round of disenfranchised voters. Some kind of Federal standard or procedure for appeal? An explicit punishment for ANYONE found to have tampered with citizens' rights -- including CEOs and employees of companies that do the voter purges contrary to state laws? After election day appeals?

So, what to do? Whom to approach? My congressman? State Attorneys General and Governors? the great community of DU? I imagine an opportunity here but don't know what to DO.

[thesubstanceofdreams]

9. Well said! K&R!

[MagickMuffin]

11. K & R

Thank you for getting people registered to vote:patriot:

I guess desperate times calls for desperate measures and the rethuglicons are just plain out and out DESPERATE.

[TheKentuckian]

12. More and more I believe all the ACORN Reich Wing talking points

are just pure cover fire for all the crooked purging they've been doing and because Obama is on it, they'll probably actually catch some heat.

I bet there's handy access to enough to indict these assholes if not in one of their stacked courts then at least in the court of public opinion. They are probably actually about to catch some degree of hell over their disenfranchisement tactics and want to duck and dodge while pointing their fingers.

[Essene]

13. I respect ACORN... but Obama needs to not get entangled (ive worked with unethical ACORN people)

I've seen some real loonies and absurd behavior from ACORN from first hand experience.

Good intentions, but there is absolutely no way that the Dems or Obama oughta be getting entangled with them.

They have way too many people, too many things going on, too many volunteers and contract workers... to be defending everything that comes out of them. I'm talking well intended folks that get so self-righteous that they put ethics aside.

No organization like that can exist without some dirt.

ACORN can defend themselves just fine... and getting entangled in that is a mistake.

[wildeyed]

14. They are trying to establish this as election fraud in the public consciousness

so they can push through the picture ID legislation down the road.