Activists Accused of Voter Registration Fraud Again

by Jim Kouri, CPP

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, is once again under scrutiny by elections officials, the public, and the press for apparent voter registration fraud in Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

These accusations are only the most recent in the group’s notorious history that includes ties to voter fraud in 12 states, as outlined in a report by the Employment Policies Institute.
   
The most recent accusations of fraud are an unfortunate case of deja vu, as ACORN faced similar accusations of fraud in Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in the last two years. So far this election cycle, state elections boards have uncovered the following:
   
Missouri — The St. Louis elections director estimated that after
investigating 5,000 registrations turned in by ACORN, only 10 to 15 percent
were legitimate and it had appeared that names had been copied from the
phone book. More egregious violations include registrations for three dead
people and one 16 year old.
   
Kansas City’s director of elections said about 3,000 registrations
turned in by ACORN included suspicious signatures, underage registrants,
and birth dates and Social Security numbers conflicting with state
databases.
   
Ohio — Franklin County elections director turned over 500 potentially
fraudulent cards turned in by ACORN including registrations with signatures
in the same handwriting, addresses for vacant lots, and even a registration
for a dead person. Similarly suspicious registrations turned up in Summit
and Cuyahoga Counties including a fraudulent card submitted by ACORN that
led to a 16 year old being registered to vote.
   
Pennsylvania — In Philadelphia, the city’s voter registration office
rejected about 3,000 cards submitted by ACORN because of missing
information or invalid addresses. Nearly 100 fraudulent voter registrations
submitted by ACORN in Delaware County prompted the District Attorney’s
Office to issue an identity theft alert.
   
“The frequency with which ACORN is accused of voter fraud reveals their continual disregard for the law and the elections process,” said Mike Flynn, EPI’s director of legislative affairs. “Their cavalier disregard for the law undermines the integrity of our voting system.”

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com.  He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.  His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us
   

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Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's the former editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subscription" on the subject line. | More from Jim Kouri, CPP