From a March 2 post on BigGovernment.com:

Last week, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a crime syndicate dedicated to tightening the Democratic Party's grip on America, dissolved its national structure. Too much of ACORN's corruption had been exposed to public scrutiny for it to run its vote fraud and extortion rackets effectively. So, ACORN activists will have to soldier on in state-level organizations, such as New York Communities for Change and New England United for Justice in Massachusetts.

ACORN does indeed operate like the Mafia, but it more closely resembles another organization that began as an affiliate of the Democratic Party, the Ku Klux Klan. Aside from intimidating some bank executives, ACORN does not engage in violence, but like the KKK it has vote fraud as a top priority.