U.S. Attorneys Scandal—Albuquerque and Seattle

By Scott Horton

Of all the efforts in the crosshairs of the Karl Rove-led “vote fraud” fraud, one stands out. It’s the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, which has run the nation’s largest and most effective voter registration drive focusing on the urban poor—which is to say principally Blacks and Hispanics. Truthdig reports:

What angers the Republicans are ACORN’s voter registration efforts, mostly in poor African-American and Latino neighborhoods. In the last few years, it has registered about 500,000 voters in poor communities.

ACORN members tend to be tough and focused. They organize poor families ignored by the politicians, the big contributors and the reporters and pundits who dominate today’s political dialogue. While political writers report on the so-called money primary—the contribution competition among the top contenders—ACORN is signing up voters in neighborhoods where the major candidates and journalists seldom venture.

So what, exactly, is the criminal offense that led to multiple criminal investigations against ACORN across the country? That’s simple. “They are registering voters who are likely to be Democrats.” But they did have some sloppy practices.

ACORN’s success woke up New Mexico State Republican Chairman Allen Weh and other state party officials. They accused ACORN of fraud in the 2004 drive that registered 35,000 potential voters, according to The Albuquerque Tribune.

U.S. Attorney Iglesias investigated the complaints. He formed a task force that took a close look at more than 300 of them. In fact, some ACORN workers, who were paid for each person they registered, weren’t too fussy about whom they signed up. ACORN fired a worker for registering a 13-year-old boy.

Iglesias concluded there was no basis for criminal prosecutions against ACORN. It appears to have cost him his job. An almost identical story played out in Seattle, justifying the sacking of John McKay. Note that in the same campaign, as part of a Rove-led effort, a group with close ties to the Republican National Committee was soliciting students to register and then consistently “misplacing” their registration materials. The students showed up at the polls and found they were unregistered. No criminal inquiries or action in those cases.