CNN reports leave out relevant facts on ACORN voter registration allegations
SUMMARY: From October 6 through October 15, CNN aired at least 54 segments mentioning allegations that ACORN submitted allegedly false or duplicate voter registration applications this year in a number of states. However, only one of those segments mentioned both of the following two relevant points: 1) that the statutes of most of those states require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all registration forms they receive; and 2) that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare. Of the 54 CNN segments addressing the allegations against ACORN, two mentioned only the former of those two points, while one mentioned just the latter.
From October 6 through October 15, CNN ran at least 54 segments mentioning allegations that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now [ACORN] submitted allegedly false or duplicate voter registration applications this year in a number of states, according to a Media Matters for America search* of the Nexis database. But only one of those segments mentioned both of the following two relevant points: 1) that the statutes of most of those states require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all registration forms they receive; and 2) that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare. Indeed, in an October 10 press release, ACORN noted that "in almost every state we are required to turn in ALL completed applications, even the ones we know to be problematic." And in a 2007 report titled "The Truth About Voter Fraud," New York University's Brennan Center for Justice stated, "[W]e are aware of no recent substantiated case in which registration fraud has resulted in fraudulent votes being cast." Of the 54 CNN segments addressing the allegations against ACORN, two mentioned only the former of those two points, while one mentioned just the latter.
While the media have devoted great attention to charges of voter fraud, in past election cycles such charges have largely proven baseless. According to the Brennan Center:
There have been several documented and widely publicized instances in which registration forms have been fraudulently completed and submitted. But it is extraordinarily difficult to find reported cases in which individuals have submitted registration forms in someone else's name in order to impersonate them at the polls. Furthermore, most reports of registration fraud do not actually claim that the fraud happens so that ineligible people can vote at the polls. Indeed, we are aware of no recent substantiated case in which registration fraud has resulted in fraudulent votes being cast.
Additionally, an October 16 ABCNews.com article reported that Sen. John McCain's "voter fraud worries -- about ACORN or anyone else -- are unsupported by the facts, said experts on election fraud, who recall similar concerns being raised in several previous elections, despite a near-total absence of cases." The article quoted David Becker, "a lawyer for the Bush administration until 2005, in the Justice Department's voting rights section, which was part of the administration's aggressive anti-vote-fraud effort," who stated, "There's no evidence that any of these invalid registrations lead to any invalid votes" and added: "The Justice Department really made prosecution of voter fraud of this sort a big priority in the first half of this decade, and they really didn't come up with anything."
Indeed, the U.S. Department of Justice crime statistics cast doubt on the existence of widespread voter fraud. According to a report by the Justice Department's Criminal Division of prosecutions between October 2002 and September 2005, the Justice Department charged 95 people with "election fraud" and convicted 55. Among those, however, just 17 individuals were convicted for casting fraudulent ballots; cases against three other individuals were pending at the time of the report. Further, on April 12, 2007, The New York Times reported, "Five years after the Bush administration began a crackdown on voter fraud, the Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections, according to court records and interviews."
During a report on the October 12 edition of CNN Sunday Morning -- the only CNN report to mention both of the above points -- anchor Betty Nguyen aired a clip from ACORN chief organizer Bertha Lewis's October 10 interview on CNN's Larry King Live, in which Lewis said: "First of all, in every county when you register voters, you've got to turn in every single card no matter how weird or wacko it may appear, that's the law." Later in the segment, Nguyen asked Demos.org's Steve Carbo, "I mean, are these numbers inflated here or is ACORN truly involved in voter fraud?" Carbo replied, "I think we need to be clear about what voter fraud is. The record shows that it's exceedingly rare for individuals to show up on the polls on Election Day and pretend to be other people, to vote twice, to vote illegally."
Three segments mentioned one, but not both points. Two segments mentioned that many states require ACORN to submit all registration forms it received. On the October 10 edition of Larry King Live, Lewis said, "First of all, in every county when you register voters, you've got to turn in every single card no matter how weird or wacko it may appear, that's the law." In a later segment on the same broadcast, after radio host Stephanie Miller called the allegations against ACORN "a non-story," King asked her, "Because you have to bring whatever they fill out?" Miller replied, "Yes."
One additional segment suggested that voter fraud is extremely rare. During a roundtable on the October 11 edition of CNN Newsroom, civil rights attorney Avery Friedman said, "Now in reality, when either Mr. or Ms. Turkey show up at the voting booth, today there is a built-in protective mechanism. So, although it sounds like a big deal, and I think some of the partisans are trying to paint it that, for those people who get minimum wage, who have quotas, those people are in trouble for doing these kinds of things. But the bottom line is that the system will work. I don't think Jive Turkey will be voting this November."
The following 50 CNN segments did not include either of the above relevant facts (all program times ET):
|
Date |
Show |
Anchors/Correspondents/Guests |
|
10/15 |
Host Lou Dobbs, correspondent Bill Tucker |
|
|
10/15 |
Dobbs, correspondent Drew Griffin, Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf |
|
|
10/15 |
Anchor Kyra Phillips, Griffin |
|
|
10/15 |
Anchor Tony Harris, Griffin |
|
|
10/15 |
Anchor Heidi Collins, correspondent Brian Todd |
|
|
10/15 |
Collins, Griffin |
|
|
10/15 |
Anchor Kiran Chetry, Griffin |
|
|
10/15 |
Chetry |
|
|
10/14 |
Host Anderson Cooper, political analysts David Gergen, Roland Martin, Alex Castellanos |
|
|
10/14 |
Dobbs, Tucker |
|
|
10/14 |
Host Wolf Blitzer, Todd |
|
|
10/14 |
Blitzer, Griffin |
|
|
10/14 |
Blitzer, correspondent Jessica Yellin |
|
|
10/14 |
Anchor Rick Sanchez, presidential candidate Ralph Nader (I) |
|
|
10/14 |
Sanchez, correspondent Joshua Levs |
|
|
10/14 |
Phillips, WEWS reporter Duane Pohlman |
|
|
10/14 |
Phillips, Levs |
|
|
10/14 |
Harris, Pohlman |
|
|
10/14 |
Harris, Griffin, Blitzer |
|
|
10/14 |
Harris, Tucker, Levs |
|
|
10/14 |
Collins, Pohlman |
|
|
10/14 |
Collins, Tucker |
|
|
10/14 |
Chetry, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) |
|
|
10/13 |
Dobbs, Tucker |
|
|
10/13 |
Dobbs |
|
|
10/13 |
Blitzer, Griffin |
|
|
10/13 |
Phillips, Griffin |
|
|
10/12 |
Host John King, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner |
|
|
10/12 |
Dobbs, Griffin |
|
|
10/12 |
Dobbs, Tucker |
|
|
10/12 |
Dobbs, New York Daily News columnist Errol Louis, Sheinkopf |
|
|
10/12 |
Anchor Betty Nguyen, Griffin |
|
|
10/11 |
King, Brunner |
|
|
10/11 |
Dobbs, Griffin |
|
|
10/11 |
Dobbs, Tucker |
|
|
10/11 |
Dobbs, Louis, Sheinkopf |
|
|
10/10 |
Host Larry King, Griffin |
|
|
10/10 |
Dobbs, Tucker |
|
|
10/10 |
Phillips, Griffin |
|
|
10/10 |
Harris, Griffin |
|
|
10/10 |
Nguyen, Griffin |
|
|
10/10 |
Anchor John Roberts, Griffin |
|
|
10/9 |
Cooper, Griffin |
|
|
10/9 |
King, Democratic strategist Tanya Acker, Republican strategist Andrea Tantaros, Democratic strategist Paul Begala |
|
|
10/9 |
Host Campbell Brown, Griffin |
|
|
10/9 |
Dobbs, Griffin |
|
|
10/9 |
Dobbs, Tucker |
|
|
10/9 |
Roberts, Griffin |
|
|
10/9 |
Sanchez, Griffin |
|
|
10/7 |
Dobbs |
* Media Matters searched the Nexis database for CNN for "acorn" from October 6 through October 15
I would just like to say that at this point, the whole ACORN thing has jumped my shark.
Please note that this is only MY personal shark, not that official shark associated with the mainstream entertainment industry. My personal shark is not meant to be used as a barometer of popular opinion, nor a measuring stick of the pertinence of any national news story, movie, sitcom, drama, nor other item of entertainment which may or may not use film, radio, television or text as a medium and does by definition fall into the category widely accepted to have the ability to attain a position of tedium and fantasy whereupon it could be considered to have jumped the popularly defined shark. My personal shark is a very small shark with a somewhat smallish dorsal fin, a few dull molars, and sometimes just lays in the water on his side complaining of cramps.
Just had to get that off my chest.
Not funny. A lot of effort for not funny, too.
Actually, very little effort, very little thought. Purely emotional fatigue at the never-ending repetition of long-since debunked news stories transferred to text as if I was having a conversation face to face with someone else.
Now don't be offended, but you weren't that someone else. Nevertheless, I truly do appreciate your input. i will seek to avoid that particular style of comment in the future, if it can be helped.
Neon, I liked it. You share my annoyance with phrases that get used repeatedly... If we could get rid of "comfort food" I'd be grateful. And let there never be another -gate attached to scandals that don't involve any kind of door swinging on a hinge.
All food (except Brussel Sprouts and maybe liver) is "comfort food" so it is a rather wasted phrase. And amen on the "-gate" useage.
Thank you Mary.
It's good to know that there are still SOME people who appreciate art when they see it...
Now don't be offended, but you weren't that someone else.
yeah but be funny. For that much reading time, your readers deserve it.
Let me just say that I am flattered that you spent so much time reading it with the expectation that you would be rewarded with humor by the end.
What if I said at this point that my intention was to play a joke on the reader, by not having a joke at the end, and you fell for it?
No, I suppose not. Perhaps if you read through it again with the concept of irony in mind, the "tedium" of verbosity and the "fantasy" of the shark metaphor in an endless and over-developed explanation of the very subject I was addressing, maybe then you could understand where I was trying to go with it. Or maybe not. But remember: We're all here for our own amusement.
But remember: We're all here for our own amusement.---ND
Speak for yourself sir. I'm preserving the union.
I thought that it was hysterical, myself, but then I like dry humor. And that was humor that was like, dessicated, man!
Let me just say that I am flattered that you spent so much time reading it with the expectation that you would be rewarded with humor by the end.
Look, if you're gonna write more than 3 lines on something, you either have to be funny, or brilliant. You's neither here.
I thought it was pretty funny, Neon. Maybe not "Dennis Miller Funny", or "Redeye Funny", there weren't a lot of 4 syllable words or references to Greek mythology,and no hopes for the violent death of anybody who disagrees with you.Still very amusing, and not at all difficult work to get through.
I hope Carlileb doesn't mind anybody else enjoying it.
I liked it, too. Personally, I'm holding my breath for the day that a political scandal involves a security gate or something, so we can have a Gate Gate. Or, a Florida Gators scandal.... Gator Gate.
Maybe we could refer to the controversy surrounding Palintwit's political rallies as HateGate.
I hope Carlileb doesn't mind anybody else enjoying it.
I can't even figure out what it means!
By my math, 14 of those 50 reports or 28%....over 1 in every four of them, aired on Lou Dobbs show. Mr. Dobbs needs to have his journalism"license" yanked, although this is just one of the reasons that ought to happen. CNN.....you ain't the most trusted name in news....by a long shot.
I'm glad MMFA has been documenting this-- CNN's reporting on this story is so egregiously misleading that it must be intentional.
Anderson Cooper especially has been terrifically bad on this topic-- it's unfortunate that he just reads the teleprompter rather than asks questions on his own. His fortunes have obviously declined. His reputation certainly has.
I think florida is about to lose a governor. Can't have republicans talking bad about republicans, can we?
Crist: GOP may be exaggerating voter fraud
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's governor says his fellow Republicans may be exaggerating claims of voter fraud in the state.
Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that he has confidence in Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who says there's only been a scattering of isolated incidents.
Crist said in the closing days of any campaign "there are some who sort of enjoy chaos." There may be more of that going on than fraud, he said.
The Republican National Committee and GOP presidential candidate John McCain have accused an activist group of fraudulently registering people in Florida and other states. It has focused on young people, minorities and others seen as more likely to support Democrat Barack Obama.
"there are some who sort of enjoy chaos."
Because in the midst of chaos, one has the ability to steal. Just look at Iraq.
Because in the midst of chaos, one has the ability to steal. Just look at Iraq.
Quite so FHLH. Perhaps the current economic situation as well.
If Obama wins, it will be interesting to see what horrors tumble out of the Oval Office closet once the Sith are sent packing.
The sad part is that President Numbnuts has achieved the Troglodyte wet dream and left the Federal Government financially crippled. That will be his legacy. Mission Accomplished.
I was involved in the Obama campaign's efforts here in Georgia to register new voters. I can personally attest that individuals filled out the forms themselves and no matter how poorly done, those forms were sent AS IS to the Secretary of State promptly. This evening on the 6 p.m. show Georgia Gazette on Georgia Public Broadcasting, the host reported on the results of 3 days worth of investigation into whether voter fraud and ACORN and registering dead folks was a pervasive problem. 138 (of 159) county elections officials responded in the negative. No concentrated effort to register folks fraudently. only 34 documented cases of fraudulent registrations (not voting, mind you) thus far for the whole state and those have been resolved. In spite of AM radio stations in rural areas talking about efforts to registered dead people, the elections officials know of no such effort. Now mind you, 260M people have been PURGED from the rolls in Georgia, based on some kind of information downloaded from the federal level, and the station is going to try to get to the bottom of that one.
This is all a manufactured story by Republicans. Please let us win on November 4, and win big, and marginalize the Republican party. Let them go live in the wilderness for a decade or two. Seriously
CNN JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA WILL DO ANYTHING TOO MAKE OBAMA AND HIS SUPPORTERS LOOK BAD TO HELP MCCAIN WIN YOU SEE HOW THEY JUMP ON THAT JACKSON STORY THAT WAS A LIE THAT THE REPOTER HAD TOLD. I SEE SOME PEOPLE FELT FOR MCCAIN CON AT THE LAST DEBATE NEWT AND CNN ARE JUMPING ON THE POLLS THAT SAY MCCAIN AND OBAMA ARE CLOSE. I LOVE HOW WHEN POLLS SHOW THAT OBAMA IS AHEAD THE RIGHT AND THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA WILL SAY IF YOU BELIEVE THOSE POLLS BUT WHEN THE SAME PERSON WHO TOOK THE POLL COME OUT AND SAY MCCAIN IS AHEAD OR GETTING CLOSE TOO OBAMA YOU CAN TRUST THAT SAME POLL TAKER THEN. I SEE ROVE TOLD PALIN AND MCCAIN TO GO ON DAVE AND SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE TO HLEP BRING THOSE POLL NUMBERS UP SOMEMORE. NOW IF MCCAIN AND PALIN WERE UP IN THE POLLS MCCAIN WOULD NOT HAVE WENT BACK ON DAVE AND PALIN WOULD NOT BE GOING ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
Well said, right-winger. In an easily understandable fashion, you cogently and concisely stated your opinion on the matter.
I'd thought it was sarcasm, till I noticed the author.
DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!
Given their slanted reporting it seems that CNN has developed a biased fixation on ACORN, and what in reality, and in the context of the total number of new voters registered across the country, is a limited problem.
In truth if CNN was interested in actually providing "fair and balanced" reporting they would allow equal time to all aspects of this story. But again they seem to stuck on one angle and are apparently determined to beat this horse to death. And by doing so serving as the organ grinder for this latest right-wing distraction monkey. While they fan the flames of misinformation CNN continues to ignore or at least under-report on repeated right-wing attempts to dis-enfranchise real (primarily low income and minority) voters through aggressive, redundant, unwarranted and in many case illegal voter role purges and other activities intended to obstruct legitimately registered voters from voting. This is not just a phenomena of this year's election - this is the fifth consecutive election cycle that republicans and their right-wing cohorts have launched stepped-upped, concerted and co-ordinated dis-enfranchisement attacks against potential democratic supporting voters utilizing everything from roll purges, to ballot misinformation mail-outs and emails, to outright intimidation carried out both by the RNC and affiliated groups, and elected or appointed government officials. Yet CNN seems uninterested in any aggressive pursuit of this, offering up no more than minimal, incremental reporting on such attempts to rob voters of their right to vote. A conspicuous example is that CNN while harping on the voter registration form problem in Lake County, Indiana only mentioned in passing, the attempt by republicans to block "early voting" access at satellite Lake County Clerk offices in the minority heavey cities of Hammond, East Chicago and Gary. Only mentioning this in passing at the close of their original piece. Neither did they follow-up that a court ruling against the republicans has affirmed the appropriateness for "early votes" to be cast at these locations. Our country was founded on the principle of a representative form of government and it is the right to vote for our representatives that is the foundation of our democracy. Our right to vote is the most sacred of the rights we hold and is the linchpin to our existence as a free people. Any attempt, by any party, in any way, by any individual, group or political party within this country to abridge this right should not be cast off and dismissed as just "politics as usual" but should be viewed as a threat greater than any threat we could possibly face from external forces. CNN chooses to ignore this threat, opting rather to convene a panel of self-inflated pundits of both right and left to analyze ad infinitum the most crass, ridiculous and desperate assertions made by the McCain camp and their right wing henchmen, in this case their attempt to disparage and tie ACORN to a national campaign of systematic voter fraud. Meanwhile real people, real citizens, real and legal voters are having their right to cast their vote taken away from them and the alleged journalist of CNN stand idly by.'Washington Post', 'L.A. Times' endorse Obama
Ah yes, more examples of the MSM right wing bias! lol
Another important fact that has been ignored by the mainstream media is the firing of DA David Iglesias. Iglesias was approached by republican politicians to bring charges against ACORN for voter fraud. When Iglesias reported back that there was no evidence to support this accusation, he was released. Now the repuplicans have renewed they're baseless attacks against ACORN.
REMEMBER DAVID IGLESIAS
It's so nice to finally see others realizing how in the tank Lou Dobbs is for McCain. He has been relentlessly hammering the "despicable voter fraud" being perpetrated by the "left-wing organization ACORN with ties to Barack Obama" every night on his show for over 2 weeks now.
This is an actual quote from last Thursday's Lou Dobbs show: "That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight. Are you concerned that radical left-wing activist groups are trying to manipulate the outcome of this presidential election? Yes or no."
I mean, hello? Push poll much, Lou? What a tool...
I'm glad you've picked up on CNN's dangerous coverage of the ACORN
and AYER's Stories. I've emailed them countless times. They don't
care what the facts are. You should drop the Chris Matthews watch
and start an Anderson Cooper watch. This guy is awful. Lou Dobbs
is a lost case. They need to be reminded that the audience they're
catering to already have FOX.