Might ACORN grow into something bigger? (OneNewsNow.com)

Might ACORN grow into something bigger?

Jim Brown and Jody Brown - OneNewsNow - 10/15/2008 7:30:00 AM

vote booth A former member of the Federal Election Commission says the recent rash of voter registration fraud cases tied to the non-profit group ACORN warrants a Justice Department investigation and points to the need for state voter identification laws.

ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is being accused of submitting fraudulent voter registration forms across the country by registering people to vote multiple times under false names or even in the wrong jurisdictions. In Nevada, the group allegedly tried to collect phony registration forms for Dallas Cowboys players, and in Florida reportedly tried to register Mickey Mouse. A teenager in Cleveland, Ohio, says ACORN pestered him into signing 73 voter registration forms.

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The group, which received more than $800,000 from the Obama campaign to register voters, is now under investigation in a dozen states. Hans von Spakovsky, a visiting legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, says unlike most third-party organizations that do voter registration drives, ACORN has an extremely checkered past.

"They've had many of their employees indicted and convicted for voter fraud. And the thing is this hasn't just happened in 2008. This has been a problem with ACORN in election after election," he contends. "This happened in 2006. It happened in 2004, which all of that indicates a fundamental problem with this organization and the work that it's doing in this area."

acorn Although the Department of Justice has not said whether it is conducting an investigation into ACORN, von Spakovsky believes the FBI should get involved and find out just how far up the problem goes in the organization.

Late Tuesday, Senator Obama sought to minimize the impact of a possible link between his campaign and the alleged voter registration fraud. He told reporters in Toledo, Ohio, that his campaign's volunteer operation and voter registration program are "the best...in politics right now, and we don't need ACORN's help." In the 1990s, Obama represented ACORN in a lawsuit; and on Tuesday he acknowledged that "as an elected official, I've had interactions with" ACORN's Chicago branch. "But they are not advising our campaign," he emphasized.

Senator John McCain also has called for an investigation of Obama's ties to ACORN, while GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- in an interview Tuesday with conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh -- said the Democratic presidential nominee "has a responsibility to rein in ACORN."