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Ignoring its own reporting, NY Times omitted key facts on ACORN voter registration allegations

October 17, 2008 11:43 am ET
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SUMMARY: The New York Times quoted Sen. John McCain's assertion during the third presidential debate that ACORN was "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country," but ignored key facts, including that the statutes of most of the states in which ACORN allegedly submitted false or duplicate voter registration applications this year require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all forms they receive, or that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare.

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In an October 16 New York Times article, reporter Michael Falcone quoted Sen. John McCain's assertion during the October 15 presidential debate that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country," but ignored key facts that undermine that claim.

Falcone did not report that the statutes of most of the states in which ACORN allegedly submitted false or duplicate voter registration applications this year require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all forms they receive, despite having reported on October 14: "Acorn officials said that in many states they were required by law to turn in all registration forms even if they were deemed problematic."

Nor did Falcone point out that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare. As Media Matters for America noted, on April 12, 2007, the Times itself 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." On the same day that Falcone's story was published, the Times noted in an editorial: "But for all of the McCain campaign's manufactured fury about vote theft (and similar claims from the Republican Party over the years) there is virtually no evidence -- anywhere in the country, going back many elections -- of people showing up at the polls and voting when they are not entitled to."

Additionally, Falcone wrote that Sen. Barack Obama "represented Acorn in a lawsuit in 1995," but did not note that the Department of Justice joined with ACORN as a plaintiff in the case, which the Times previously reported, and which Obama pointed out during the debate.

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    • Author by wzwriter (October 17, 2008 12:03 pm ET)
         

      There's a reason that many stated require third parties to submit every voter registration application they receive - back in 2004, a GOP-finded group was sorting out any registration forms where people had selected the Democratic Party, and throwing them in the trash.  In other words, GOP voter fraud is being used to attack ACORN.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by snoopy (October 17, 2008 12:08 pm ET)
         

      You can smell the desperation in the air. 1.5 million new voters who, while are not gauranteed democratic voters, will likely vote that way because of their unemployed status. The republicans are afraid that this election really will be a landslide victory. The fact that their latest round of robo-calls are not only 100% lies but in many cases are proving to be illegal really drives home who the real criminals here are.

      Report Abuse
      • Author by Col. Harlan Sanders (October 17, 2008 12:29 pm ET)
           

        This is pretty ridiculous that they're going along with this as "voter fraud". Another poster here asked a pretty reasonable question yesterday, about when one is technically "registered". Filling out this form is a long way from being registered, let alone voting.

        A good analogy would be those stacks of credit card apps that we all get in the mail. If somebody fills one out using the name of a cartoon character, Citibank isn't guilty of extending credit fraudulently, and they're even further from illegal lending.

         

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        Report Abuse
        • Author by magnolialover (October 17, 2008 12:47 pm ET)
             

          I will "one up" you on the GOP "merchandise".

          Did you guys see this one?
          http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/local-gop-group.html

          That one was for you in California, for you Colonel. And possibly the funniest (in a tragic way) comment from the woman who printed these up for her local GOP group (from the above link):

          The president of the GOP group, Diane Fedele, says it "was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further. I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

          "I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

          It was "just food" to her. Amazingly she picked fried chicken and watermelon to represent the black man running for President. Nice one...

          Report Abuse
          • Author by Col. Harlan Sanders (October 17, 2008 1:04 pm ET)
               

            Hey Mag, I saw an item on that yesterday, and I'll admit I assumed it was from somewhere deep in Dixie. Good for me to remember that our own Inland Empire is keeping a little bit of that alive. Any time I drive to Vegas or Palm Springs, I get a tour of the old South at certain spots along the way.Thanks for linking to that, here's my fave comment;

            The truth hurts. Does evey Obama supporter in the world cry "racist" every time some one states their opinion or is this only a free country for Barak and Michelle?

            The number of diehards who can bury their heads in the sand and consider this reasonable "opinion", much less truth, is dwindling down to the nuttiest fringe. Even the "race card" wingnut apologists at this site have been pretty quiet with regard to the most recent stuff.

            And you didn't even mention the ribs or Kool Aid.

            Report Abuse
            • Author by magnolialover (October 17, 2008 1:11 pm ET)
                 

              I totally forgot about the ribs and Kool-Aid.

              I think we've heard this before from certain posters on this site, about their opinions being called out as racist, and how they thought liberals were accepting of others, and how come we don't accept their opinions (mostly because they're based on lies, misinformation, and sometimes, yes, racism).

              I actually DO like in Dixie, and if this sort of thing has popped up in Cali, you should see the stuff I've heard, and or seen here. On a daily basis, I've got smart, well like colleagues of mine calling Obama, "That Ni****". I actually had someone tell me yesterday that he'd rather have the entire country collapse under McCain rather than vote for a "ni****". Yeah, seriously.

              Report Abuse
              • Author by Col. Harlan Sanders (October 17, 2008 1:21 pm ET)
                   

                I was making myself the butt of the joke as much as Dixie, Mag, admitting that I mistakenly assume it happens other places.Believe me, I've heard my share of ignorant BS. It may be kept in check here in the suburbs of SoCal, where people are aware of what thoughts they're better off not saying out loud, but occasionally you hear some unedited comments.

                I guess because I'm a white guy, once in a while some acquaintance, work contact or complete stranger, especially if they've had a drink or three, will be very candid with me about who they hate and who they're really scared of.

                Report Abuse
                • Author by magnolialover (October 17, 2008 1:50 pm ET)
                     

                  Oh, no, I think you misunderstood me. I was also trying to make myself the butt of said joke. I live in Dixie, but what I really am is a Damn Yankee who moved to NC from Maine, so I'm looked down upon to start with, being not from here and all, and of course, having the temerity to be a Yankee to boot.

                  Thing is, I have a "conservative" haircut, buzzed off style, I'm a white guy who can joke around with the guys on the production floor easily, and they feel at ease around me, so they let fly with the worst stuff I've heard in a long time. I don't call them on it at work, mostly because, they trust me around them to say that stuff, and even though it's horrible, I think for most of them, it's just "talk".

                  Report Abuse
        • Author by eweston8542983 (October 17, 2008 4:51 pm ET)
             

          Somewhere there's a shark with footprints running over his back going WTF?

          Report Abuse
    • Author by dww44 (October 17, 2008 1:38 pm ET)
         

      Good point to remember that filling out the card does not constitute registration. I have been involved with the Obama registration efforts here in middle Georgia and cann assure everyone that no one touched anything on a filled out card and they were all promptly mailed in to state officials.  On our state public radio yesterday the host reported on 3 days worth of research into allegations of registration and voter fraud in the state by talking to and getting responses from 138 county election officials.  We have 159.  No evidence of any kind of wholesale fraud in registrations ongoing (only 34 documented cases involving some false information;those problems have all been dealt with) and no concerted effort to register dead people (as rural AM radio stations are claiming).  No cases of fraudulent ID in the early voting ongoing since 9/22 in spite of Republican Secty of State ( a real witch, by all accounts)claiming that Dems, in suing to stop mandated requirement of producing STATE-ISSUED photo id's at polls, were actually contributing to chaos at the polls rather than being concerned about voter fraud.

      However, GPB is continuing to investigate what is going on with the over 260M voters purged from state rolls based on some kind of feed from the federal government.  That exceeds the 200M new voters that the OBAMA campaign has added to the rolls.  Hope they find out and report to us soon.

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    • Author by Great American (October 17, 2008 1:43 pm ET)
         

      WASHINGTON (AP) _ The FBI is investigating whether the community activist group ACORN helped foster voter registration fraud around the nation before the presidential election.

      A senior law enforcement official confirmed the investigation to The Associated Press on Thursday. A second senior law enforcement official says the FBI was looking at results of recent raids on ACORN offices in several states for any evidence of a coordinated national scam.

      Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Justice Department regulations forbid discussing ongoing investigations particularly so close to an election.

      ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, says it has registered 1.3 million young people, minorities and poor and working-class voters — most of whom tend to be Democrats.

      Republican accusations about the group were raised during Wednesday's presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and GOP candidate John McCain.

      Some ACORN employees have been accused of submitting false voter registration forms — including some signed 'Mickey Mouse' or other fictitious characters.

      Those voter registration cards have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri and at least five other states. Election officials in Ohio and North Carolina also recently questioned the group's voter forms.

      ACORN has said the "vast majority" of its workers are conscientious, but some might have turned in duplicate applications or provided fake information to pad their pay. Workers caught submitting false information have been fired, ACORN officials say.

      ACORN says laws in a number of states require it to submit all registration cards it collects even dubious ones, so its workers segregate applications with missing, suspicious or false information and flag them so state election officials can quickly check them further.

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      • Author by BillJ-MN (October 17, 2008 1:52 pm ET)
           

        Diversionary nonsense.  There is no indication at all that ACORN did anything wrong outside of hiring some people who screwed over ACORN and no one else.  This is just an attempt to smear ACORN that will only resound with people who are too ignorant to learn the facts.

        The incidence of voter fraud has been investigated in detail and has been found to be almost entirely nonexistent.

        Report Abuse
    • Author by Great American (October 17, 2008 1:44 pm ET)
         

      Teenager: I Registered To Vote 73 Times

      Ohio ACORN Lands In Hot Water

      Monday, October 13, 2008 – updated: 3:31 pm EDT October 13, 2008

      A Cleveland teenager who claims he registered to vote 73 times over a five-month period has set of alarm bells among election officials in Ohio's most populous county. Video: Register Early, Often | Compare Candidates   The bipartisan Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Cleveland voted unanimously Monday to ask Prosecutor Bill Mason to investigate multiple registrations by four people, including 19-year-old Freddie Johnson. All four said they signed forms at the behest of a community organizing group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform, known as ACORN. Johnson said he was trying to help paid ACORN solicitors collect signed registrations. He said he has not voted, and said he filled out the cards because he was given cigarettes and about $20. ACORN's Ohio state director, Katy Gall, said ACORN is cooperating with the investigation and would fire anyone soliciting duplicate registrations. He also pointed out that no fraud was committed because the teen had not cast a vote. The fracas is the latest round in a battle over ACORN's impact on voter registration this year. The group says it has signed up 1.3 million poor and working-class voters in a mass registration drive in 18 states this year. In Pennsylavania, the district attorney for the Pittsburgh area is investigating possible forgery and other irregularities on voter registration forms turned in by ACORN. Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney, said fewer than 100 registration forms were apparently forged or otherwise illegitimate. ACORN issued a statement Friday dismissing the fraud allegations in Pennsylvania as an attempt by a relatively small group of political operatives "to orchestrate hysteria about 'voter fraud.'" Nevada state investigators raided ACORN's Las Vegas headquarters last week, seizing documents and computer data. Republican presidential candidate John McCain has called for a federal investigation into ACORN. His campaign manager said that ACORN's connections to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's connections to ACORN should be investigated. ACORN accused Republicans of playing dirty politics and of trying to keep America's less fortunate voters, who tend to be Democrats, from the polls on Nov. 4. Obama and two other lawyers in 1995 represented ACORN in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois to make voter registration easier. During this year's primary, Obama hired a firm with ties to the group for a massive get-out-the-vote effort. ACORN executive director Michael Slater said that most wrongdoing is discovered by the group itself, when employees examine registration cards submitted from the field. Problem cards are flagged and turned over to local election officials, Slater said. Most states, he added, require that every collected card be given to voting jurisdictions. The surge in new voters helped propel Obama to his party's presidential nomination, and it may carry over to the general election -- 9 million newly registered voters who are overwhelmingly Democratic could add up to a big victory on Election Day. In states where registration is recorded by party, including eight key states that could decide the election, voters have signed up Democratic in the past six months by a margin of nearly 4-1. However, simply registering voters, even when the numbers are skewed so heavily toward one party, is no guarantee of success. Historically, voter turnout among new registrants has been low. And while candidates have months to run registration drives, they have only a tiny window -- several days during early balloting, just hours on Election Day -- to get out the vote. Still, an Associated Press analysis of registration data found that if the millions of newly registered voters turn out at the same rate as in 2004 and cast ballots with their declared party of choice, Obama could have the votes he needs to wrest several battleground states away from the Republican Party and its nominee, Sen. John McCain.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by magnolialover (October 17, 2008 2:00 pm ET)
           

        And if ALL of his registrations were accepted, by Ohio, which they weren't, there would probably be an issue, but as with everything else associated with ACORN lately, there isn't an issue.

        Remember, someone registered to vote illegally, and if they had voted, it would THEN be voter fraud. This didn't happen. Thing is, it doesn't matter who registers, and through what group, then the big thing is actually, you know, getting people actually out to vote, which isn't guaranteed.

        Report Abuse
      • Author by BillJ-MN (October 17, 2008 2:03 pm ET)
           

        Doesn't pass the smell test.  If the imagined ACORN worker paid this kid "cigarettes and about $20" for his 73 registrations there's no way the ACORN worker could be making any money.  There's not a chance that 73 registrations would be worth twenty-some dollars to ACORN.

        Most of the article pretty much makes it clear that ACORN did nothing wrong.  But I'll bet you didn't really read much beyond the first couple of lines.

        Report Abuse
      • Author by mary59 (October 17, 2008 2:58 pm ET)
           

        "ACORN's Ohio state director, Katy Gall, said ACORN is cooperating with the investigation and would fire anyone soliciting duplicate registrations. He also pointed out that no fraud was committed because the teen had not cast a vote."

        This is from your own article.  Do you even read them???!!!

        Report Abuse
        • Author by Kyle_Broflovski (October 17, 2008 3:10 pm ET)
             

          Not sure what kind of robot antisocialist is, but I don't think it's one that knows how to read.  It seems to me like the parrot & spew variety.

          Report Abuse
    • Author by gg (October 17, 2008 1:58 pm ET)
         

      Why doesn't someone at the NYT interview Ann Coulter on voter fraud since we know she has actually engaged in it.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by military_husband (October 17, 2008 3:36 pm ET)
         

      Antosocialist:

       Could you at least post a link to the articles you re posting? That last one has no facts in it at all. It is one long "some have said" and "the rumors are that" nonsense. Post facts that show these things are happening. The facts are just not on your side on the whole ACORN story. They have to turn the forms in by law. They separate the questionable ones out before turning them in in most cases so those receiving them no which ones to take a closer look at.  None of the people ACORN has registered have actually voted at that point so it is not voter fraud. So far the only one who been held legally responsible was a volunteer. Instead of posting articles next time, explain why you think it is fraud and how you think ACORN is actually doing damage.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by netsez00565 (October 17, 2008 5:29 pm ET)
         

      From a site keeping track of endorsements

      http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875230

      JOHN McCAIN
      16 newspapers total
      1,502,163 daily circulation


      BARACK OBAMA
      51 newspapers total
      6,299,363 daily circulation


      THE MSM IS LIBERAL DEMOCRAT!

      Report Abuse
      • Author by Col. Harlan Sanders (October 17, 2008 5:42 pm ET)
           

        Netsez, there's a lot wrong woth your post, more than putting on your capslock and adding exclamation points can fix.

        Specious reasoning and a complete absence of logic, mostly.

        My Southern California sportscasters generally report more favorably about the Lakers than the Clippers. It doesn't mean they're working for the Lakers, they're just dealing with reality.

        4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum. they're not working for Trident.

        Newspaper staffs are usually filled with people who are pretty up-to-speed on current events, politics and history. This will affect their judgement.

        With am radio, the internets, Fox News and the other outlets documented here as going easy on the GOP, your idea of the "MSM" is mostly a fantasy.

        Put down the Kool Aid and use your brain.

        Report Abuse
      • Author by onionhead (October 17, 2008 11:57 pm ET)
           

        That's one conclusion. The other (more plausable) conclusion is that the MSM knows that John McCain is a joke and coming out against the kind of crap that his campaign represents.

        Report Abuse
    • Author by snoopy (October 17, 2008 7:17 pm ET)
         

      I love the way racist republicans deal with controversy. Yah, us lib's is the party of hate...

      Just as surely as night follows day, violence is being directed at ACORN offices and officials in the wake of the flood of right-wing demagoguery about its vote-gathering efforts:

      An ACORN community organizer received a death threat and the liberal activist group's Boston and Seattle offices were vandalized Thursday, reflecting mounting tensions over its role in registering 1.3 million mostly poor and minority Americans to vote next month.

      Attorneys for the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now were notifying the FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division of the incidents, said Brian Kettenring, a Florida-based spokesman for the group.

      Republicans, including presidential candidate John McCain, have verbally attacked the group repeatedly in recent days, alleging a widespread vote-fraud scheme, although they've provided little proof. It was disclosed Thursday that the FBI is examining whether thousands of fraudulent voter-registration applications submitted by some ACORN workers were part of a systematic effort or isolated incidents.

      Kettenring said that a senior ACORN staffer in Cleveland, after appearing on television this week, got an e-mail that said she "is going to have her life ended."

      A female staffer in Providence, R.I., got a threatening call from someone who said words to the effect of "We know you get off work at 9," then uttered racial epithets, he said.

      John McCain has played a leading role in whipping up this frenzy of hatred. In Wednesday's debate, he charged:

      We need to know the full extent of Sen. Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.

      This is consistent with the hateful language being spewed from the right by the likes of Lou Dobbs, who has taken to routinely characterizing ACORN as a "radical left-wing activist group" as well as "a Democratic Party adjunct".

      In fact, the hysteria's being generated across a broad spectrum of the Right, from Outer Malkinite Wingnuttia to Inside Beltway Villagers, from McCain and Palin to the frothiest freepers.

      And we can see what's coming, too: We're being set up for a running yammer from the right after Obama wins questioning his legitimacy because of a supposedly "tainted" vote. Conspiracy theories and talking points from the right will circulate, driving up the temperature and feeding the right-wing populist frenzy.

      And they're not even waiting until Election Day to begin.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by lisa47917610 (October 18, 2008 2:32 am ET)
         

      Voter fraud of any kind is wrong and this isn't a GOP conspiracy. I'm so sick of the Democrats throwing that term around when they get caught breaking the law.

      If anything this is a Democratic conspiracy to usurp the voters rights. It's committed by ACORN a Democratic supported organization, helped by a Democratic Attorney General and the Supreme Court which is not interpretting laws but trying to skirt laws.

      This is like the elections in third world countries you read about in the newspapers. Open election fraud support by the government.

      Next we won't have a Constitution, we'll be a dicatorship with censorship of all media.

      Report Abuse
      • Author by mary59 (October 18, 2008 8:50 pm ET)
           

        If you are so sick you might try the antidote of reading and studying the issues.  You will discover that the "voter fraud" issue IS a fraud, and an attempt by the Republican smear machine to hide it's own election frauds, which include

        Republican voter purging, caging, voter intimidation, misinformation flyers, inadequate voting machines, and electronic voting machine flipping of votes.

        Report Abuse
    • Author by netsez00565 (October 18, 2008 4:45 pm ET)
         

      Here is the precious NY TIMES trolling teenagers for dirt.  Nice

      The following Facebook message was sent to a 16 year old classmate of McCain's daughter Bridget.


      Jodi Kantor

      Add as Friend

      September 29 at 7:21pm

      Report Message

      I saw on facebook that you went to Xavier, and if you don't mind, I'd love to ask you some advice about a story. I'm a reporter at the New York Times, writing a profile of Cindy McCain, and we are trying to get a sense of what she is like as a mother. So I'm reaching out to fellow parents at her kids' schools. My understanding is that some of her older kids went to Brophy/Xavier, but I'm trying to figure out what school her 16 year old daughter Bridget attends-- and a few people said it was PCDS. Do you know if that's right? Again, we're not really reporting on the kids, just seeking some fellow parents who can talk about what Mrs. McCain is like.

      Also, if you know anyone else who I should talk to-- basically anyone who has encountered Mrs. McCain and might be able to share impressions-- that would be great.

      Thanks so much for any help you can give me.

      Jodi Kantor
      Political correspondent
      New York Times
      kantor@nytimes.com
      212 556 4596

      Report Abuse
      • Author by mary59 (October 18, 2008 8:48 pm ET)
           

        I don't suppose you have any kind of link to support your tale?  I guess the point of it is to suppose that the entire staff of the NYT are nasty exploiters of facebook and innocent teenagers? and therefore you can discount any reporting that they do.

        So I'd advise you to ignore any story they have about Iraq having WMDs. 

        Report Abuse

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