ACORN Inflated New Voter Count by 850K

Almost a third of its registrations have been rejected

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 24, 2008 2:39 AM CDT

(Newser) – The community organizing group ACORN and Project Vote's boast of having signed up 1.3 million new voters was off by 850,000, reports the New York Times. Just 450,000 of the registrations represent genuine new voters. Another 450,000 were already-registered voters who changed their address, and 400,000 have been rejected for various reasons—including fraudulent submissions.

The issue has put the Democrats on the defensive, although ACORN officials says it is normal for many registrations to be rejected. Some 1.5% of the total were fraudulent, while other registrations were duplicates or incomplete. Most of the bogus registrations are believed to have come from low-paid workers trying to please their supervisors.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

A Florida canvassing board member examines a disputed ballot in 2000. The system of checks means few bogus registrations result in bogus votes, officials say. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

An investigator carries a box of evidence seized from the ACORN office in Las Vegas earlier this month. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

What this has done is undermined confidence in the system, because voters don’t understand that we have checks and bounds. I’m confident in the integrity of elections here. - Las Vegas county registrar of voters Harvard L. Lomax

We were wondering how many were Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. The group is really tainted, and any work they do is suspect. - Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Justices Won't Force Ohio to Check Voter Registrations

Ruling is blow to state Republican party

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court ruled today that Ohio does not have to verify hundreds of thousands of new voter registrations, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The court did not assess the Ohio Republic Party’s claim that registration needs cross-checks to prevent fraud, but rather ruled that the party did not have the standing to challenge Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on the matter. More»

Liberal Group Files Fake Voter Forms

ACORN under scrutiny in several states; used names of the dead

(NEWSER) - Authorities have discovered more than 2,000 phony registration forms filled in by a liberal activist group in an Indiana county, CNN reports. The forms from ACORN—already being probed for alleged fraud in Nevada and Missouri—included the names of dead people and sandwich shop Jimmy Johns. A lawyer for the group, which had launched a massive registration drive, blamed quality control. Lake County officials have put all 5,000 ACORN forms in the "fake pile" and will review them. More»

Dems, GOP Battle Over New Voters

Issue becomes focus as huge turnout expected

(NEWSER) - Voter registration has become a hot-button election issue in a year that’s seen millions of new voters, the Wall Street Journal reports. In line with party trends, Democrats are working to register as many people as possible and deploying vote-protection legal experts, while Republicans keep a wary eye on potential voter fraud, scanning thousands of new voters’ documents. More»

On Voter Rolls: 1.8M Dead People

One in 8 voter records are flawed, Pew estimates

(NEWSER) - The Walking Dead is more than a hit TV show, it might just be a successful get-out-the-vote strategy. Thanks to 24 million out-of-date and inaccurate voter registration records, the United States has up to 1.8 million dead people registered to vote, reports USA Today . "We have a ramshackle registration system in the US. It's a mess. It's expensive. There isn't central control over the process," said one expert. Despite 2.75 million duplicate registrations and other problems, the Pew Center for States , which published the study, says there are still 51 million eligible citizens not registered to vote. More»

America Risks a Return to 'Jim Crow Voting Laws'

States are rigging the 2012 election: EJ Dionne Jr.

(NEWSER) - After electing its first African American president—thanks in part to a surge of new voters—the US is in danger of seeing “a subtle return of Jim Crow voting laws,” writes EJ Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post . New laws being passed here, supposedly to prevent voter fraud, would be condemned as “election-rigging” in an emerging democracy—but here in the US no one is saying a word. Voter fraud is not a real problem, Dionne alleges, it’s an imaginary problem serving as an excuse for the GOP to wage war on the right to vote. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

ACORN Inflated New Voter Count by 850K