I've provided a link to a page from ACORN's website, which presents a concise but thorough defense against some of the more recent anti-ACORN propaganda. A few brief comments of my own...
Registration fraud is NOT the same thing as voter fraud. Many ACORN critics would like you to equate the two. They want you to conclude that election fraud is afoot (and for good measure, they attribute blame to the Obama campaign). Yet as ACORN notes, "there has never been a single reported instance in which bogus registration forms have led to anyone voting improperly." The real victim is not the voter, but ACORN - a small minority of whose employees have submitted false registration forms in order to make an extra buck.
The more radical elements of the anti-ACORN campaign hope that you're so ill-informed about ACORN that they are able to exploit your ignorance by discrediting a movement which has succeeded in broadening our country's electorate. Their ultimate objective, ACORN explains, is to
"...distract ACORN from helping people vote and to justify massive voter suppression. That’s the real voter fraud; the noise about a small fraction of the forms ACORN has turned in is meant to get the press and public take their eyes off the real threat, while those hurling the charges are stealing people’s right to vote in broad daylight. They have already tried to prevent Ohio from registering voters at its early voting sites. In Michigan, they planned to use foreclosure notices to challenge thousands of voters. In Indiana, Republican officials have gone to court to try to block early voting in Lake County, Indiana And if this year is like past years, they are preparing to use this so-called voter fraud to justify massive challenges to voters in minority precincts on Election Day."
Registration fraud is NOT the same thing as voter fraud. Many ACORN critics would like you to equate the two. They want you to conclude that election fraud is afoot (and for good measure, they attribute blame to the Obama campaign). Yet as ACORN notes, "there has never been a single reported instance in which bogus registration forms have led to anyone voting improperly." The real victim is not the voter, but ACORN - a small minority of whose employees have submitted false registration forms in order to make an extra buck.
The more radical elements of the anti-ACORN campaign hope that you're so ill-informed about ACORN that they are able to exploit your ignorance by discrediting a movement which has succeeded in broadening our country's electorate. Their ultimate objective, ACORN explains, is to
"...distract ACORN from helping people vote and to justify massive voter suppression. That’s the real voter fraud; the noise about a small fraction of the forms ACORN has turned in is meant to get the press and public take their eyes off the real threat, while those hurling the charges are stealing people’s right to vote in broad daylight. They have already tried to prevent Ohio from registering voters at its early voting sites. In Michigan, they planned to use foreclosure notices to challenge thousands of voters. In Indiana, Republican officials have gone to court to try to block early voting in Lake County, Indiana And if this year is like past years, they are preparing to use this so-called voter fraud to justify massive challenges to voters in minority precincts on Election Day."
