THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent, a federal judge ruled this evening.

"It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States," said Judge George C. Smith of U.S. District Court in Columbus in upholding the Ohio Republican Party's request for a court order.

Brunner's office said she is filing an immediate appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Smith, appointed by President Reagan, said the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires states not only to verify the addresses and other identifying information provided by newly registered voters with the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the federal Social Security Administration, but also to provide counties with the names of new voters whose records did not match.

Brunner's office had been doing the computerized verification, but the GOP argued that Brunner had not made the names available to county elections boards. The judge gave her a week to comply.

The judge said he lacked the authority to order the counties to clean up the voter rolls once they had the list, but he noted that Ohio law permits challenges to absentee ballots.

Meanwhile, authorities in Greene County are seeking records on all 302 people there who took advantage of a six-day window in which Ohioans could register to vote and cast a ballot at the same time.

County Prosecutor Stephen Haller and Sheriff Gene Fischer, both Republicans, are seeking voter-registration cards and change-of-address forms from the county board.

Haller acknowledged that he was not aware of specific fraud accusations but said the sheriff acted on general complaints about the possibility that students might vote twice - once at home and once at school. The county includes several colleges and universities, such as Cedarville, Central State, Wilberforce and Wright State. Democrat Barack Obama's campaign targeted college campuses in a push to sign up new voters.

Haller is the ex-law partner of Mike DeWine, the former GOP U.S. senator who is chairing Republican John McCain's Ohio campaign.

In his 16-page ruling, Smith cited the "millions of qualified electors across the state of Ohio whose confidence in the electoral process will be undermined if new voter registrations are not verified in accordance with (federal law), and if unqualified individuals are permitted to cast votes. This would demean the voting process and unlawfully dilute the votes of qualified voters."

Brunner said in a statement that her office "will do everything within its power to ensure that the state's 88 county boards of elections can continue to allow early voting to proceed uninterrupted and to assist them with their preparation to ensure a smooth election for the voters of Ohio."

Smith specifically cited questionable activity of one group that registered thousands of new Ohio voters: the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

Ohio Republican Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine said the ruling spoke volumes about Brunner, a Democrat.

"Her refusal to comply with federal law raises serious concerns about her ability to objectively oversee this election. It's especially troubling in light of her connection to ACORN and that group's stunning confession this week of fraudulent registration activity happening right here in Ohio," DeWine said.

An ACORN representative is on a Brunner advisory committee, while Republicans say Obama has "strong ties" to ACORN, serving in the past as an attorney and "leadership trainer" for the group.

Within three hours of the ruling, DeWine sent out a GOP fund-raising appeal, saying, "Please contribute today and help us fight the legal effort by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and her Democrat allies to let voter fraud go unchecked."

Earlier in the day, national Republicans turned up the heat on allegations of voter-registration fraud by ACORN.

Sean Cairncross, chief counsel for the Republican National Committee, called ACORN a "quasi-criminal organization" in a conference call with reporters.

He pointed to past legal problems for ACORN, which registers low-income, minority and young voters, and press reports about bogus registration cards being submitted this fall in Ohio and several other states.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, for example, reportedly is investigating about 50 duplicate or fictitious forms submitted by ACORN. Group leaders reportedly have told county officials they can't stop all fraud. The group's headquarters in Las Vegas also was raided recently amid reports of phony voter registrations, some of which simply listed the names of Dallas Cowboys players.

Franklin County had problems with ACORN in 2004 after authorities discovered dozens of voter registration forms with fake names or false information. A part-time worker for the group was indicted on charges he forged a registration form.

So far this year, officials said they have had 11 challenges to new voter registrations, and about half had been submitted by ACORN. Elections Director Michael Stinziano and Deputy Matthew Damschroder said it's impossible to know how many bad registration cards might get through.

But Damschroder, a Republican, said ACORN has been "markedly better" in the county since 2004, and there's no evidence of anyone casting a ballot using a fraudulent registration.

Asked for a response, ACORN spokesman Charles D. Jackson wanted questions submitted in writing but still didn't respond.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories...9/acorn.html?sid=101


Gee, what a surprise. ACORN should be banned and National election cards with photo ID required to vote. It's the only way to stop these cheaters.

But Damschroder, a Republican, said ACORN has been "markedly better" in the county since 2004, and there's no evidence of anyone casting a ballot using a fraudulent registration.


They found 11 challenges, and half were from ACORN, so wow, 5-6...

I guess you gotta make up for the voters that are illegally being purged at a rate of 2 purged, per new sign-ups in a bunch of battle ground states. I would call that much greater than 5-6 challenges.

link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081009/ap_on_el_ge/voter_purges

Anyone registered by ACORN should be refused the right to vote, not because they don't exist or that they are registered multiple (sometimes tens of multiples) times but because nobody knows for sure.

I love how the leftists don't think this is a problem. If this is allowed, then I will start a conservative counter group to register voters multiple times. Fraud is happening on a grand scale here.

Ironic isn't it. We can make sure we have a legitimate election in other countries in a war zone but we have fraud on a massive scale here in our own. Difference between them, they don't have ACORN.

A republican has stated, their is no evidence of a single vote...

Keep listening to Rush, and maybe it will come true...to you...

There is no evidence because the data is being illegally kept secret from the GOP. A court order is being ignored to cover it up.

quote:

Originally posted by anarchy2day:
Anyone registered by ACORN should be refused the right to vote

YES EXACTLY! We should totally deny legal voters the right to vote because some voter registrations are fake.

That makes so much sense, and is a rational response to the situation. Always deny rights when there is a shred of doubt or uncertainty.

That is so American. George Washington just smiled in heaven.

Thank you.

No, not all should be denied. But the democrats and Acorn must obey the judge and allow the authorities to confirm which ones are legit and which are fraud so we can have a fair election. Fraud votes undermine my the legal votes. In other words each fraudulant vote by Acorn voids a legitimate vote. So my vote in essense is stolen by Acorn and the democratic party lead by Obama himself.

quote:

Originally posted by revkev34:
No, not all should be denied. But the democrats and Acorn must obey the judge and allow the authorities to confirm which ones are legit and which are fraud so we can have a fair election. Fraud votes undermine my the legal votes. In other words each fraudulant vote by Acorn voids a legitimate vote. So my vote in essense is stolen by Acorn and the democratic party lead by Obama himself.

A republican said their is no evidence of one vote that is illegal, so should we tie them all up, till say maybe the day after the election in fairness?

quote:

Originally posted by revkev34:
No, not all should be denied. But the democrats and Acorn must obey the judge and allow the authorities to confirm which ones are legit and which are fraud so we can have a fair election. Fraud votes undermine my the legal votes. In other words each fraudulant vote by Acorn voids a legitimate vote. So my vote in essense is stolen by Acorn and the democratic party lead by Obama himself.

Any illegal voting should be punished. There's no evidence of that connected to ACORN, but if there is then it should be punished.

Illegal registrations should be punished. Both workers and managers who failed to catch things like "Jive Turkey".

However, innocent voters who have been registered by any organization should not be punished. That is just bizarre.