Journal Profane MuthaFucka's Journal: ACORN memo 45
To: Interested Parties
From: Bertha Lewis and Steve Kest
Date: October 9, 2008
Re: The Truth About ACORN's Voter Registration Drive
Election Day is less than a month away, and our efforts to make sure that low-income and minority voters have a voice and vote on November 4th are in full swing. Unfortunately, just as we've seen in previous election cycles, the more success we have in empowering these voters, the more attacks we have to fend off from partisan forces making unfounded accusations to disparage our work and help maintain the status quo of an unbalanced electorate. We want to take this opportunity to separate the facts of our successes from the falsehoods of our attackers.
On Monday, October 6, as voter registration deadlines passed in most states, ACORN completed the largest, most successful nonpartisan voter registration drive in history. In partnership with the nonpartisan organization Project Vote, we helped register over 1.3 million low-income, minority, and young voters in a total of 21 states. Highlights of this success include:
We collected over 151,000 registrations in Florida, 153,000 in Pennsylvania, 215,000 in Michigan, and nearly 250,000 in Ohio.
An estimated 60-70 percent of our applicants are people of color.
At least HALF of all are registrations are from young people between 18-29.
We are proud of this unprecedented success, and grateful to everyone who supported us in this massive effort, from our funders and partners to the literally thousands of hardworking individuals across the country who dedicated themselves to the cause and conducted the difficult work of registering 1.3 million Americans, one voter at a time.
And this work is far from over: now begins our effort mobilize these new voters around local and national issues, getting them to the polls and helping to channel their commitment and conviction into an ongoing movement for change in our communities.
As The Nation pointed out recently, ACORN's success in registering millions of low-income and minority voters has made it "something of a right-wing bogeyman." Though ACORN believes that the right to vote is not, and should never be, a partisan issue, attacks from groups threatened by our historic success continue to come, motivated by partisan politics and often perpetuated by the media without full investigation of the facts. As a result, there have been a few recent stories about investigations of former ACORN workers for turning in incomplete, erroneous, or fraudulent voter registration applications. Predictably, partisan forces have tried to use these isolated incidents to incite fear of the "bogeyman" of "widespread voter fraud." But we want to take this opportunity to set the record straight and tell you a few facts to show how these incidents really exemplify everything that ACORN is doing right:
Fact: ACORN has implemented the most sophisticated quality-control system in the voter engagement field, but in almost every state we are required to turn in ALL completed applications, even the ones we know to be problematic.
Fact: ACORN flags incomplete, problem, or suspicious cards when we turn them in, but these warnings are often ignored by election officials. Often these same officials then come back weeks or months later and accuse us of deliberately turning in phony cards.
Fact: Our canvassers are paid by the hour, not by the card, so there is NO incentive for them to falsify cards. ACORN has a zero-tolerance policy for deliberately falsifying registrations, and in the relatively rare cases where our internal quality controls have identified this happening we have fired the workers involved and turned them in to election officials and law-enforcement.
Fact: No charges have ever been brought against ACORN itself. Convictions against individual former ACORN workers have been accomplished with our full cooperation, using the evidence obtained through our quality control and verification processes.
Fact: Voter fraud by individuals is extremely rare, and incredibly difficult. There has never been a single proven case of anyone, anywhere, casting an illegal vote as a result of a phony voter registration. Even if someone wanted to influence the election this way, it would not work.
Fact: Most election officials have recognized ACORN's good work and praised our quality control systems. Even in the cities where election officials have complained about ACORN, the applications in question represent less than 1% of the thousands and thousands of registrations ACORN has collected.
Fact: Our accusers not only fail to provide any evidence, they fail to suggest a motive: there is virtually no chance anyone would be able to vote fraudulently, so there is no reason to deliberately submit phony registrations. ACORN is committed to ensuring that the greatest possible numbers of people are registered and allowed to vote, so there is also NO incentive to "disrupt the system" with phony cards.
Fact: Similar accusations were made, and attacks launched, against ACORN and other voter registration organizations in 2004 and 2006. These attacks were not only groundless, they have since been exposed as part of the U.S. Attorneygate scandal and revealed to be part of a systematic partisan agenda of voter suppression.
These are the facts, and the truth is that a relatively small group of political operatives are trying to orchestrate hysteria about "voter fraud" and manufacture public outrage that they can use to further suppress the votes of millions of low-income and minority Americans.
These tactics are nothing new, and history has shown that they will come to nothing. We'll continue to weather the storm, as we've done for years, and we'll continue to share the truth about our work and express pride about our accomplishments.
Most importantly, we want to assure you that this good work continues, unabated and undeterred. ACORN will not be intimidated, we will not be provoked, and in this important moment in history we will not allow anyone to distract us from these vital efforts to empower our constituencies and our communities to speak for themselves. If the partisan political machines are afraid of low-income and minority voters, they're going to have to do a lot better than coming after ACORN.
After all, there are now at least 1.3 million more of them, and they will not be silenced. They're taking an interest, and taking a stand, and they'll be taking their concerns to the voting booth in November.
And ACORN will be here, to make sure that the voices of these Americans are heard, on Election Day and for every day to come.
ACORN: Vote Fraud We Can Believe In (Score:1)
Fact [google.com]: Officials raided ACORN offices in Nevada after false registrations were submitted.
Fact: [marketwatch.com] CNN Found evidence of vote fraud, with registrations belong to dead people being submitted.
Fact: [texaswatchdog.org] ACORN is registering dead people in Texas.
Fact: [ogdenonpolitics.com] ACORN has managed to register 105% of people in Indianapolis.
Fact: [clevelandleader.com] Despite claiming to the contrary, Brack Obama has indeed worked with ACORN in the past.
Now, what we
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Let me be more explicit then: ACORN IS LYING THEIR ASSES OFF TO COVER FOR THEMSELVES NOW THAT THEY'VE BEEN BUSTED
1. Repeated attempts to disenfranchise all but an elite for the last few years, including the use of violence and intimidation where necessary.
What, like Super Delegates? More people voted for Hillary than for Obama in the Primary, you know...
2. Bla
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There's really no excuse for being so ignorant when Google is right there to help you out. I'd call you a lazy cocksucker, but you have to work your ass off these days to avoid having the correct information delivered right to your computer screen.
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By the way, thanks for not refuting a single point or piece of evidence.
Anyone with at least a room temperature IQ will see right through that ad hominem attack.
But don't let that stop you from regurgitating talking points instead of carrying out independent thoughts.
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So, all you proved is that you can't use Google to find the name of the organization that Obama worked for. It wasn't ACORN.
So, goat raper, it's your turn. Eat my jizz.
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As far as working for:
Yes, he did. He represented ACORN as a lawyer in Court. [suntimes.com]
Any other obfuscations you want to try and come up with?
Obama sued on behalf of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The League of Women Voters and other public-interest groups joined in.
Game. Set. Match.
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Log in, coward.
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Lots of people work with ACORN. But that's irrelevent. Obama didn't work for ACORN, as you say. But he should have. ACORN is a great organization which does great work.
The reason that the right is so mad about ACORN is that they and their affiliated organizations register blacks and poor people to vote, and argue on their behalf for fair housing practices. Racists hate to see that happen, and racism is what's driving the right wing hatred of ACORN.
They've been investigated many times, never charged, always
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Pay attention: He worked with ACORN, and represented them in court. That is working for, and with, ACORN.
Since logic and reason is apparently not your strong suit, let me explain:
When you claim that Obama has never worked for ACORN, that statement is proved false with only 1 example. I've linked examples of Obama working with ACORN (including photographic evidence) and an example where he working for them as a lawyer.
Your statement is false.
Racists hate to
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Keep on going, this is entertaining.
And who said that I was talking about Obama here with the race issues that I pointed out? Do you have some race issues yourself? I really wonder about that, since you don't seem bothered that ACORN is being pursued with governmental power without evidence of guilt. In fact, they've been cleared in the past. Individual workers have found themselves in trouble, but ACORN itself abides by the law.
Anyway, the whole point of this journal went right over your head. No surprise.
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Yer on crack!
McCain is lying about his past. That's what you'd *expect* a terrorist like McCain to do. He's taking money from known terrorist sympathizers. McCain is Hamas.
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You're joking, aren't you? I sure hope so, because I'm laughing at you.
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Whoosh! Right over your head.
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You *do* know who's journal you're responding? LOL This is *not* abnormal.
Oh, and for the record, you're a twit.
Not that you probably really are or anything, though I suppose you might be, but that's exactly what you should expect in his journal.
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No, literally, WHOOSH, right over your head.
Why are you responding to me, BTW. You're the subject, not the object. Thanks for volunteering.
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I thought I was being rather nice to him actually.
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Purely subjective PMF... Purely subjective. I thought that, for you, you were pretty nice and even nicer considering it was inside your journal.
You'd think that your user name would be, well, enough to clue them in as to what to expect here. It isn't like it is AngelicSaint or anything.
No no... Your nickname implies, to me at least, that you're going to be vulgar, rude, expressive, and will eagerly jump to just plain insults when the mood strikes. Hell, those are the reasons I added you as a friend in the f
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A far better reason to not call him a lazy cocksucker, is that it's very unfair to lazy cocksuckers everywhere.
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"half honkey and all donkey"
Intellectual Honesty FAIL
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You missed the part where I realized that Palin being one heart beat away from being president == Epic Fail. McCain't had my vote until that.
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Wow. You're correct - I did miss that. I knew he leaned to the right - I didn't realize it was so far to the right that his brain leaked out. I have to say, I'm very depressed by that. I really like him when he's not acting like an idiot. When he's not acting like Pudge. But, I repeat myself...
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I can do both at once, fuckstick
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Wait, what? Was that directed at me? I wasn't talking about you...
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I responded to the parent post thinking it was a response to my comment, but it was actually a response to your comment. Oh well, surprise gang bang.
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Well, seeing as most presidents don't actually do shit I think I might just have to vote for Palin and hope McCain dies so we can have a cute (subjective) president.
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When I think of dirty old men, I think of Ike Thomas and when I think about Ike I get a hard-on that won't quit.
Sixty years ago, I worked in what was once my grandfather's greenhouses. Gramps had died a year earlier and Grandma, now in her seventies had been forced to sell to the competition. I got a job with the new owners and mostly worked the range by myself. That summer, they hired a man to help me get the benches ready for the fall planting.
Ike always looked like he was three days from a shave and his
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Is that original work? If so, your talent is obvious.
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I hold no authorship claim to the classics.
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All those items were addressed by the article, but the last item about Obama working for ACORN is completely laughable. Obama didn't work for ACORN, and that you think so is just an indicator of your misinformed mind.
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Obama worked WITH ACORN. Did you not see that picture? Recognize the shirt on the woman to Obama's right? It's an ACORN shirt. The caption under the picture spells that out in black and white, too.
Who's misinformed?
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That is the most retarded thing I've heard all week. Good lord I'm going to masturbate to this comment for the next month, it's so retarded.
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Nonsense. It's an ad fuckhead. I've seen your journal and the evidence that you have a tenuous grip on logic and reality. Cling to your guns, redneck.
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