October 27, 2008
Posted: 08:50 PM ET

From
Concerns about voter registration forms submitted by ACORN in Indiana have led Indiana's Secretary of State to ask for a criminal investigation of the group.
Concerns about voter registration forms submitted by ACORN in Indiana have led Indiana's Secretary of State to ask for a criminal investigation of the group.

(CNN) — Indiana's secretary of state has requested a criminal investigation into the embattled community organizing group ACORN, which is accused of submitting hundreds of bogus voter registration forms in northern Lake County.

Watch: Drew Griffin on ACORN in Indiana

The request is based on Secretary of State Todd Rokita's preliminary examination and analysis of 1,438 questionable voter registration applications ACORN submitted in the county, which includes the city of Gary. Rokita, a Republican, has concluded there is "significant, credible evidence" that ACORN violated Indiana and federal law.

Read: Rokita's request to prosecutors

"This is a fraud perpetrated on all of the people of Indiana, because fraudulent registrations are the first step in diluting the voice of honest voters and rendering an inaccurate tally on Election Day," Rokita wrote in his request to state and federal law enforcement officials.

In response, ACORN said, "We believe the law requires us to turn in every card."

The group, which is the target of intense GOP attacks, says it flagged questionable registration forms collected by its canvassers. The group has been criticized for submitting phony forms in several states — many of which are considered battlegrounds in next week's presidential election.

But Rokita said ACORN should have turned the documents over to law enforcement, not registrars.

"Complying with the law to submit legitimate applications does not allow ACORN officials to evade the law against knowingly submitting fraudulent applications," Rokita wrote.

ACORN said Rokita "appears to have changed his opinion on this question two weeks before the election."

The group said it detailed its quality control procedures and said that election officials in Lake County had refused the group's documentation flagging applications the group considered questionable and refused to meet with ACORN to discuss how to handle the applications ACORN had flagged. It also said it looked forward to cooperating with Indiana authorities in prosecuting employees "who have defrauded us" by filing faked forms.

ACORN's registration activities in Lake County hit the headlines amid a wave of press reports about questionable voter registration applications submitted by the group in several states.

CNN also recently reported that federal law enforcement officials are reviewing information provided from several state investigations into ACORN's registration activities to determine whether a federal criminal investigation of the group should be opened.

Related: Obama camp calls for special prosecutor in fraud inquiry

In early October, ACORN and Project Vote announced that their extensive voter registration drive in 21 states had yielded 1.3 million registrations. But The New York Times reported last week that ACORN had dramatically reduced its estimate of the number of new voters actually registered during the drive.

Of that 1.3 million, roughly 400,000 were new voters who were not previously registered; another 400,000 were previously registered voters who needed to re-register for various reasons; and another 400,000 involved applications that were unusable because of they are illegible or incomplete, were duplicate applications or were "knowingly bogus," in the words of ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring.

"The Times piece got something very fundamental wrong," Kettenring said Monday. "We've never claimed that we put 1.3 million voters on the voter rolls. What we've said is we've registered 1.3 million people or when we are being more technically precise, that we have submitted 1.3 million voter registration applications."

Kettenring also said that a yield of 70 percent valid registrations is common for drives like ACORN's. He estimated that the roughly 30 percent of the 1.3 million applications that are not usable break down into 24 percent of the total pool that are duplicates, 5 percent of the total that are illegible or incomplete, and roughly 1.5 percent of the total pool that are "knowingly bogus," as in a registration for "Mickey Mouse."

Echoing prior statements by ACORN, Kettenring also said "what's clear is that there is a coordinated Republican effort to go after, to manufacture a crisis of voter fraud."

"Bogus voter registration applications are not fraud, period," Kettenring said, distinguishing between a fraudulent application and the later act of someone casting a ballot on the basis of a fraudulently procured registration that was submitted and resulted in a tainted registration being placed on the voter rolls. "And, so what you really have is a hysteria about a non-issue," Kettenring added.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said ACORN "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." And he has challenged Democratic nominee Barack Obama's to explain his ties to the group.

The Obama campaign maintains that it has never paid ACORN or any of its affiliates to register voters on the campaign's behalf and that the campaign has its own voter registration effort that is problem-free.

"We register our own voters under our own standards and we do so successfully," Obama campaign general counsel Bob Bauer said during a conference call with reporters in mid-October.

–CNN's Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston contributed to this report.

Filed under: ACORN • Indiana • Voter Problems


dlthompson   October 29th, 2008 3:00 am ET

If there's been fraud and illegal activity, let the investigation and prosecutions begin. This is agains all of us and I resent it. I want people in jail and I don't care who there friends are. This has gone on for years with dead people voting. It needs to stop.

Brendan H., San Antonio, TX   October 28th, 2008 2:54 pm ET

ACORN hired and paid people to egister voters. The fault lies in the people submitting the registrations and the ones responsible to check them, not Obama's campaign!

Brendan H., San Antonio, TX   October 28th, 2008 2:53 pm ET

How come it wasn't important to investigate Volusia County in Florida after the 2000 presidential election whent they reported -16,003 votes Al Gore?! Or the doznes of precincts in Ohio in 2004 where Bush polled thousands of more votes than there were people in the precincts?!

Essay   October 28th, 2008 10:37 am ET

Registering fake voters is one thing. But deliberately destroying someone's registration is another. I can't imagine Donald Duck showing up at the polls, but I can imagine John Smith showing up only to be told their registration was never received and therefore, John can't vote. Shame on the McCain campaign. Oh yes, the McCain campaign is duplicitous in this action. Google Marc Jacoby and see for yourself. I hope he's still in jail come election day.

Karen   October 28th, 2008 7:55 am ET

You say RNC wants to stay in Power?
The Dems want to be worshipped as a god!

Doug   October 28th, 2008 1:52 am ET

Everytime the word Acorn ends up on the ticker, the most commented defense by Dems usually reads along the lines that "just because people are registered 10 times, doesn't mean they are going to vote 10 times"? I guess that makes it okay then. I guess we should trust that someone registered 10 times only has bad integrity when it comes to registering but not voting.

Robert Anthony   October 28th, 2008 1:46 am ET

I think the Democrats should go to the Supreme Court once again as there are laws about trying to influence elections with such false claims like the Republicans are doing every chance that they get.
By law, all registrations received must be turned in. Acorn has also been reported to be the one informing State Registrars that they believe some registrations that they are turning in might be problematic.
All the crap that the Republicans have been spewing out over the past years is now coming home—and we will be telling to leave The White House, The Senate, and The House of Representatives with our votes.
Do not be complacent. Stand in line and vote!

Colin   October 28th, 2008 1:40 am ET

I'm from Indiana, Porter County the county next to Lake County where this is all happening, and no one cares about this, well except the Republicans of course. This isn't "Voter Fraud" and the fake voters can't vote!!!! It will not affect the out come of the election or help out either candidate. Enough of this off track attacks to attempt to steer away from the real issues. Indiana's biggest issue is that we have Republican Mitch Daniels as Gov!! He sold our toll road, among other things, which now increased its tolls by .75 cents. That's exactly what people from Indiana need in a time of economic crisis…a more expensive commute to work.

Please CNN and Republicans let this story die it will in no way affect the outcome of the election or affect who can vote. Barack Obama and his campaign have nothing to do with this Voter Registration Fraud, it's people not wanting to do their jobs but still wanting to collect the money for it.

Obama/Biden '08 the only real hope for change in America. Everyone get out and vote. Lets turn Indiana, and the rest of this nation, blue!!!!

SHELLI1313   October 28th, 2008 1:31 am ET

You know that this was just registration forms; the people have to come in to the polling office to vote and show I.D. This is so tired and stupid. I could see if they allowed all of these people to acctually vote and or cast their votes then that is something to talk about. Sounds like the Republicans are grasping at straws and anything that they can to try to trash the Democrats and Senator/President Obama. McCain and Palin and the Republicans need to stop telling lies and tell the Public what they are truly going to do about this Economy and the state of America and What they are going to do about Katrina/Rita

R. Davis   October 28th, 2008 1:30 am ET

ACORN should be investigated. A crime is a crime. If it happened to you, you would want justice. When people in a company does a crime, everything that company has done with those people should be investigated. This is a very important changing time in the US, things need to be legally done. People say that it is unfair or the RNC can't take it, then when were they there to see what happened? If there was no fraud then what's the big deal about looking into ACORN?

Rethugs Strike Again   October 28th, 2008 1:27 am ET

Throw some water on the RNC and watch them melt. They are evil in deed and intent. They have been systematically purging voters for this election and past elections. That's why we want them OUT of power.

ACORN did what was supposed to do, i.e., turn in all registrations and flag those that were questionable. They will go after the few employees or contractors that filled out forms with bogus names just to get paid. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the RNC is behind some of the bogus registration forms.

Ross in MD   October 28th, 2008 1:25 am ET

Another pathetic Republican whining about ACORN? This isn't news, it's a Monday.

WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   October 28th, 2008 1:24 am ET

Is it possible to vote without the ID?

mary   October 28th, 2008 1:22 am ET

The mess will be cleaned up, when Obama becomes our 44th president.

Lando   October 28th, 2008 1:21 am ET

Thiefs hates thiefs as saying goes….

Kendra in Indianapolis, IN   October 28th, 2008 1:19 am ET

May I also say that Lake County referred to in the story is generally last to come in on election night which has a big minority group as it close to Chicago and in this case decides if Indiana swings for Obama or McCain as iwe alwasy here in Indiana have to wait for Lake County to tally it votes last on elelction night.

Reagan   October 28th, 2008 1:17 am ET

Why is it o.k. with you people to allow people to get multiple voter registration cards so they can vote multiple times, or non-citizens to go out and vote?

I really want to know why you think this is a political parties way of stealing an election?

Why are you hoping this scam works to get O'Bama elected?

Was your life so pathetic and miserable for the last eight years because of Bush that you will turn your heads away from the Constitution???? I don't like Bush, never voted for him, but my life was not affected in any way by him. I paid higher gas this last year but that was due to Congress.

interested canadian   October 28th, 2008 1:15 am ET

You're kidding me right?

Why do you even have to register to vote – we don't do that up here, and we also vote with good-old-fashioned paper ballots.

And guess what – it works!!

Don't tell me that the US has 10 times the number of people – just get 10 times the number of ballot counters and election scrutineers.

Is all this 'registration' stuff an attempt to disenfranchise poor (black) voters?

Elections should be transparent and not subject to partisan elected officials and their tampering.

Kendra in Indianapolis, IN   October 28th, 2008 1:13 am ET

Okay this is getting silly now. It does not matter what you register as. I live in Indiana, you have to have state issued ID to vote, period. You can not vote without it. Indiana has one of the toughest vote id laws and it was upheld by the high court this past year. You can't commit voter fraud unless you show up to vote. I was signed up by Acorn outside the college I work at as I had just moved, (had never heard of them before) all they did was have me filled out the form and it asked how I verfiy my id to register in the first place. The county clerk then sent me a card in the mail to verify my address. On election day I have to show my id with my new address in order to vote which is issued in compliance with the new gov regs on state issued ID (dang near had to give blood to prove it was me to get that id). I'm an independent so if the Dems were wrong I'd call them on it but here is no way to effect the election out come unless one shows at the polls. Rokita is just doing what good republcans due, blame the other guy when he knows dang well state law requires Acorn to submitt all registrations it collects fake or not, it this case its a none issue with no outcome on the election just more voter supession tatics I see. Let the people vote no matter who they vote for LET THEM VOTE!

tim baxter   October 28th, 2008 1:03 am ET

It seems everybody is saying Palin is not ready.And I want to make it clear im not a fan .Let me share a point. Biden or Obama is no more prepared to be vise President than Palin .Lets face some facts If Oboma was white Based on His experience and Knowledge He would have not ever had been in this race to start with.I am white without A (racial) bone in my body my best friend is black . Blackness can no more run our country than whiteness.(I am really worried) that we want a black President so bad that we are forgetting the facts. America is broke we can not aford Obomas new spending .Im worried that His election will come back and bite us.

ulysses   October 28th, 2008 12:59 am ET

Everyone with even a cursory understanding of the issue knows for certain that this is not voter fraud. Obviously some people in the McCain campaign must know this, so to continue these attacks is horribly dishonest and anti-democratic. Whether McCain himself is knowingly spreading these lies, or gullibly repeating them, is an academic point. Either way, he's unfit for office.

st john   October 28th, 2008 12:52 am ET

Does CNN read any of these posts? Do you actually believe anything McCain/Palin have to say? The majority of the posts I see on most of these stories are contrary to the CNN line. CNN, I only come here to see what the latest lies are. I give you no credibility on any story published.

peace,
st john

Indiana for Obama!   October 28th, 2008 12:51 am ET

I find it interesting that the majority of these problems seem to be surfacing in the battleground states. Wouldn't you agree?

Richard Gozinya   October 28th, 2008 12:50 am ET

It seems the Democrats will do anything to steal this election. The democrats will destroy our rights as free Americans. Socialism knock on our door…

Charlie frm Georgia   October 28th, 2008 12:49 am ET

Republican really get pissed that so many new voters are for Democratic party. Let's face it – it is trend for young people. If GOP still keep moving toward extreme right, not only the younger voters won't join GOP, the moderate Republican will leave too.

Mauo   October 28th, 2008 12:46 am ET

Mccain will win!!!!

VETS4Obama   October 28th, 2008 12:44 am ET

Well said Thomas Todd! Its time we sent these clowns packing! I cannot wait until McBush's smart mouthed, power abusing light weight V.P. selection is sent back to her igloo. Maybe she can share a cell with Stevens? Nice pick McShame! Welcome back to the minority republicans…just where you belong!

MCD, San Francisco, CA   October 28th, 2008 12:41 am ET

We have learned… we see right thru all of this republican B.S. It is just so sad that they don't realize what fools they are making of themselves. What a bunch of sore loosers. Think the penny has dropped and they realize that it is going to be much more difficult to steal this election… and hopefully they won't be able to.

Indiana for Obama!   October 28th, 2008 12:40 am ET

Hmmmm! Is 'My Man Mitch' getting a little nervous?? LOL! I love it!

Cartwright   October 28th, 2008 12:39 am ET

Obama ,the redistributor, is gonna win the election. Go Hussein!

Brenda in Evansville, Indiana   October 28th, 2008 12:37 am ET

Saying that submitting a phony voter registration form is the first step to voter fraud is like saying buying a gun is the first step to shotting somebody.

Bill_ MA   October 28th, 2008 12:35 am ET

Republicans stole the 2000 election. Republicans become more disgusting every year. Bush has taken money from every working American to support his war, and make his friends rich. McCain/Palin can shove their "share the wealth" criticism of Obama. When have republicans cared about working men, and women?

Iona   October 28th, 2008 12:34 am ET

Did anybody else find John McCain's rhetoric on ACORN in the 3rd debate just a bit over the top?

mms   October 28th, 2008 12:33 am ET

The only fraud in this election is the republican party.If i hear one more time that this is voter fraud i will scream.These phoney people are not going to show up to vote.If anyone has been cheating anyone it is the people who were paid to do a job that they didn't do.Acorn did their job ,they turned in every registration form, they could have just tossed them.

Cartwright   October 28th, 2008 12:31 am ET

Obama Hussein, The Redistributor, will win the election!!!

Mavwreck   October 28th, 2008 12:29 am ET

The GOP is the biggest perpetrator of voter suppression and fraud in this country by a wide margin. The worst of ACORN is a blip on the radar compared to the crap the Republicans pull.

j   October 28th, 2008 12:20 am ET

The important thing is to resolve this quickly and allow legitimate voters the right to vote. NO LEGITIMATE VOTER should be disenfrancised because some people submitted fraudulent voter registrations. I always cringe when I hear about voters being purged from the voter rolls. This is America, we ought to be able to get this right.

sandee in Portland   October 28th, 2008 12:18 am ET

I live in Oregon and we don't have any voter problems here. Perhaps one of the reasons is we have mail in voting. We receive our ballots in the mail about 2 weeks before the election. We can vote while sitting in our homes taking our time to look over each and every measure on the ballot and even re-read the voter pamphlet if we need to clarify something. We don't have long lines at polling places, we don't worry about hanging chads, we don't need to take time off from work to stand in line for hours, we don't have voting machines that break down or are inaccurate. If we don't get our ballots in the mail soon enough to make the deadline, we can just drop them off at a number of places throughout the state right up to November 4th. I just don't know what other states don't do their voting like we do. It's the best!

tyme4chaing   October 28th, 2008 12:14 am ET

You know the republicans pulled this stuff when Bush and Gore was running….and Bush won because this same voter fraud crap came up which the repubs stole the race.

RealEyes   October 28th, 2008 12:12 am ET

Election 2004, anybody? We don't even need to mention 2000. I hope these Repubs choke on this foolishness.

inuk of the north   October 28th, 2008 12:11 am ET

ACORN is a useless, non-effective, money-sucking machine that serves only to organize paydays for its top executives.

The newly registered voters will not show up in droves, so relax.

Even the legitimate ones can't hardly be bothered to vote.

And with the line-ups, it's not likely some one could vote twice let alone 3000 times.

liam   October 28th, 2008 12:10 am ET

i dont understand even if someone registered as mickey mouse, how they will go and vote. dont they check the id at the voting booth ? I dont see how acorn has violated anything. it has been cheated by its employees. GOP is just making stuff up.

What in the world?   October 28th, 2008 12:07 am ET

I don't get it.
With Obama's popularity and fund raising and ground network, why wasn't he able to EVER get ahead on this race? Why do the polls changed so much so late in the game? With all this Republican hate and all this early voting, why isn't Obama further ahead in the polls? Why can't he get past 9 points in left leaning polls?

You know, so many people lie and say they will support Obama, but they aren't. I don't think he can win, because with the wind to his back and McCain's be destroyed because of Republican hate. It is so weird, don't you Democrats know any republicans? Do you hate them? This race is the worse. No one is right here.

Not Rock the vote it's Rob the Vote!   October 28th, 2008 12:07 am ET

I gotta tell you, this is insane, the methods used by the Americans to apparently get a democracy is hilarious!
I'm canadian and we differ from you in three ways when it comes to voting, all of them superior.
1) the government hires people by the hour NOT the amount of people they register and they come to your home and you have to show them all of your picture I.D etc. and they register you.You can also go to various gov offices to register.
There is no Outside organizations that go out and get the vote registrations for a picticular party like ACORN and OBAMA.
2) when you vote you must have your picture Id with you or you do not vote too bad for you if you lost it or whatever.
3) The majority votes wins! Majority rules true democracy at it's finest!

3)

L   October 28th, 2008 12:07 am ET

Ah, DREW GRIFFIN, again. CNN"S man WITHOUT any INTEGRITY.
this is just another Griffin AXE JOB on the GOP

No Xmas for me in Michigan   October 28th, 2008 12:04 am ET

You can smell the desperation from the RNC. Anything to stay in power.

Betty the maid   October 28th, 2008 12:02 am ET

not to worry folks…obama will be our next president…there is no way mccain can win the numbers simply are not there….as for you repubes…deal with it azz wipes!!!

we love you president obama

UU   October 28th, 2008 12:02 am ET

CNN where is the News Report on YPM the Republican agent paid to swicth registered voters from DNC to GOP. He was arrested and is still under investigation. The GOP has admitted to paying this dude $50000 to register voters. Where is that report on CNN TV but you guys where quick to jump on the ACORN story. Drew Griffin investigate this information and report it on Lou Dubbs Tonight, Situation Room, Election Center, Larry King Live and AC360.

Cindy   October 27th, 2008 11:51 pm ET

Hi Janice: You asked, "When are we ever going to get this mess cleaned up?"
Simple answer: Don't allow politicians like Obama who has paid off ACORN to buy the race.

BOB FROM S S   October 27th, 2008 11:51 pm ET

NEWS MEDIA LOVES A TERROIST

THEY SUPPORT A LIAR, AN SOME ONE THAT WANTS TO CHANGE OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM .

SIGN UP ILLEGALS

HELP THEM TO VOTE IN EVERY STATE

CNN IS NO BETTER THAN THE REST . YOU DONT SEE THEM WEAR ING A LAPEL PIN EITHER. THAT SHOWS THERE SUPPORT FOR THE M,USLIM

FINE JOB ACORN , OBAM WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER MILLION

Igor   October 27th, 2008 11:51 pm ET

It's sad that this election is coming down to pitiable tactics like this, but I believe that this case would be thrown out of court if ACORN is obligated to turn in every registration card.

This Whole Election is a Fraud   October 27th, 2008 11:47 pm ET

The big surprise is going to be that although there are only 13 million blacks in the country, that 35 million voted. And that although there are 94 million whites eligible to vote, only 20 million voted. Duh?

Cut off ACORN Funding NOW   October 27th, 2008 11:43 pm ET

ACORN is a fraud—working under the Obama campaign which gave them $ 800,000 this year to register drug addicts who would vote for Obama.

Congress must cut off all funding to ACORN and all of it's subsidiaries TODAY not tomorrow.

givemeabreak   October 27th, 2008 11:43 pm ET

If Mickey Mouse doesn't show up to vote, then no vote fraud has occurred and this jerk knows it. This is faux outrage from a republican party hack representing a party that is in the throes of defeat.

Let me tell you about the time a friend of mine's son worked for minimum wage in Nevada for the Sproul group, pals of Bush, and they directed the low wage lackeys to tear up the voter registrations they collected that were Democrats. Did that get investigated? Barely.

And Mr. Sproul showed up at the Bush ranch to celebrate the holidays after the 2004 election was over.

So, yeah, give me a break.

Lisa   October 27th, 2008 11:42 pm ET

I'm not interested in the political spin on this story. I't seems too obvious that ACORN is NOT run by Obama and any Republicans trying to infer misconduct by the Obama campaign with regard to ACORN will fall on deaf ears from me.

I am interested in what the law is regarding voter registration forms. Is it possible that ACORN is required by law to submit ALL registration forms, regardless of their questionability, but be condemned criminally for following the law?

Keith   October 27th, 2008 11:41 pm ET

If this election is to be stolen, it will not be through voter registration fraud…and it will not be at the hands of the Democrats. There is a shady, nasty history of vote manipulation historically by both parties, but it is the GOP that benefitted by the Diebold black box voting machines and that legacy is still at work in swing states with Republican governors. No amount of money can change that, it will have to wait until there is a Democratic majority and a Democratic administration and the will to change it. Hopefully, the margin of victory will be large enough that a 10 percent change due to voting irregularities won't play a decisive role.

Trying to keep up, Is a small town in California Pro or Anti American?   October 27th, 2008 11:35 pm ET

This argument is just stupid. Over and over again it is explained that it is not voter fraud because no one has voted. This is just the republican party trying to supress the vote of the poor in our country. How dare they vote! How dare they stand up for their civil rights and find a voice in our society!
Sheesh get over it already as it was stated, this is a non issue and acorn did what they were told to do. What a pathetic election this party has put on, just pathetic.

dennis from AKRON   October 27th, 2008 11:34 pm ET

PAID FOR BY THAT 832 000 BARACK OBAMA GAVE TO ACORN FOR THE KICK BACK WHEN THEY PAID HIM 200 000 TO GIVE THE GROUP TRAINING….there was a time when one natural born citizen voting MEANT ONLY ONE REAL VOTE PER CITIZEN……WHEN YOU CORRUPT THE VOTING SYSTEM YOU CORRUPT ALL OF US…….AMERICANS… BEWARE

Meg   October 27th, 2008 11:34 pm ET

Republicans are at it again. Always trying to suppress voters. Funny how all the people asking for investigations are Republicans. How come CNN doesn't do an investigation into that! CNN, you are just as complicit as the Republicans trying to steal this election. Some legitimate news organization you are!

Geo Joe in ABQ   October 27th, 2008 11:33 pm ET

I am a registered agent for voter registration in New Mexico. During our training we were instructed by a representative of the County Clerk to turn in ALL registration forms and to note or flag any suspicious ones. To not turn in a competed registration is a felony offense. Is the rule different in Indiana?

Amber   October 27th, 2008 11:31 pm ET

Writhe, cry, scream, flail, chase windmills all you want.

But the people will decide this election. Not Republican voter suppression.

Thomas Todd   October 27th, 2008 11:28 pm ET

You retards had ALL YEAR to do this and you're trying to ramp it up now in the final 10 days of the election? Typical Republican tactic – accuse individuals of "voter fraud" meanwhile they try to suppress 100's of 1000's of voters in all states with fear-mongering.

John McCain spoke at an ACORN event only 2 years ago, and ACORN in fact led the prosecution of the false canvasers, so this is clearly, absolutely B.S. distraction from fear-mongering right wing zealots who make it seem like this 'just happened' but within the final weeks of the election.

But it won't fly. You've waited too long and McCain only looks more and more McDesparate by the moment. I can hardly believe I previously thought if either Obama or McCain won, it wouldn't be so bad…he's shown the absolute worst judgement, shakiness, erratic behavior, and now desparate tactics to win an election for an office he's clearly shown he's too small and close-minded for.

Texas Teacher   October 27th, 2008 11:28 pm ET

Of course, the GOP is going to cry voter fraud when it is actually NOT voter fraud until these REGISTERED voters TRY to VOTE!!!

This is purely the Pot TRYING to call the Kettle BLACK! Pardon the old fashioned saying. BUT old fashioned sayings are still relevant because THEY are STILL RELEVANT! The Republican Party seems to think that if they tell us something long enough, we will, of course, believe them! After all they got away with this before…. Voter Fraud, I mean! Don't be surprised when they try it again with just another tact!

Desmond Sequeira   October 27th, 2008 11:26 pm ET

The only way FAILIN McSAME can steal this election is by suppressing voter registration

Belle1   October 27th, 2008 11:20 pm ET

Unlike FOX, CNN does not bother reporting ACTUAL VOTER FRAUD in Ohio. It took a duo of college journalists to expose, document, and show proof. The 13 Obama campaigners apologized, but another 150 in one county, Franklin of OBAMA campaigners have been sent letters by the Prosecuting attorney.

Ignore it and it will go away? How about some real journalism most trusted name in news????

Matt   October 27th, 2008 11:16 pm ET

disaster if it gets tried

the flagged cards show they were being forthright and honest

Tiff of lithia springs   October 27th, 2008 11:15 pm ET

WOW! RNC politics at it's best. My advice is for sit back and take a ride on the Democratic love train.

It will be alot better of a ride then that Hell of a Republican campaign rollercoaster that we have been on for the last 8 years.

Matt   October 27th, 2008 11:15 pm ET

disasterand if it gets tried

the flagged cards show they were being forthright and honest

Vote   October 27th, 2008 11:13 pm ET

Don't let death stop you, you can still register!
Barack the vote!

Amy   October 27th, 2008 11:10 pm ET

Rokita is playing partisan politics. There should not be fraud as long as election officials are well-trained and do their jobs.

Camden from mt   October 27th, 2008 11:10 pm ET

All this crap about voter fraud, problems, etc, make me wonder if my vote will be counted. Its a pretty sad day in 2008 when you can't COUNT.

Shame on America

Janice   October 27th, 2008 11:10 pm ET

When are we ever going to get this mess cleaned up, Did you know that other foreign countries have a system that they claim are fool proof and they are such a poor country. The richest country in the world, can put a man on the moon?, but can't get this right? I don't think so. Until we go back to a pencil and a box , and a copy we will continue to be cheated by the powers that be.

Jack Jodell, Minneapolis, MN   October 27th, 2008 11:08 pm ET

I think we ought to start a criminal probe into how Jeb Bush disqualified thousands of Democratic voters and shut down roads to polling places in Democratic districts in Florida in 2000, and how voting machines were transferred out of poorer Democratic districts in Cleveland creating long, long lines and were shipped out to suburban Republican districts in Ohio in 2004. Enough of this ACORN nonsense! The Republican Party: Champions of democracy so long as only THEIR members can cast votes!

barbara miller   October 27th, 2008 11:08 pm ET

Why doesn't CNN report about how Acorn is now suing in other states.
WHY?

Victor from MI   October 27th, 2008 11:06 pm ET

Your pathetic attempts won't help you GOP. You are going down, and going down HARD.

Ohio 4 Obama   October 27th, 2008 11:02 pm ET

The Republicans are trying to create a pretext for challenging an Obama victory. The irony, of course, is rich: the GOP stole the general election for Dubya twice — by tampering with the FL vote in 2000 and the Ohio vote in 2004.

John   October 27th, 2008 11:02 pm ET

The same bunch of Vote fixing Republicans calling for a probe of vote fixing,

Please don't worry Mr.Secretary, your friends at Diebold have already fixed this election for John McCain as they did for Bush in 2000 and 2004.

All you have to do is call the Diebold number to ask and I am sure Diebold will confirm McCain's victory on November 4th

sophia nyc   October 27th, 2008 11:01 pm ET

November 5 can't get here soon enough.

Larry   October 27th, 2008 10:59 pm ET

This is what the GOP is talking about,the media should be going crazy talking about blatant voter fraud ,which was reported by both the Democrats and Republicans where and when they were turned in.

If this election is going to be fraudulent like Kennedy's,at least let everybody know now by making a big deal out of this story ,please CNN.

Bill Charlotte,NC   October 27th, 2008 10:59 pm ET

The Pubs are at this knind of crap in every battleground state; and they accuse Obama of trying to disenfranchise the voters.

Mike in Texas   October 27th, 2008 10:59 pm ET

Here is another one for you tunnel vision Repubs:

According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of "registering voters." The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to hinder the Democratic ticket.

You notice that McCain doesn't bring up ACORN anymore??? I wonder why….When you say someone else's laundry stinks, you are trying to hide the fact that your own smells worse.

Leah   October 27th, 2008 10:58 pm ET

GO OBAMA!

Mark in Colorado   October 27th, 2008 10:57 pm ET

I guess the Republicans will stop at nothing. They have really shown the American people what they are truly capable of.
The Republican party has lost alot of my respect. I voted straight Democratic today.

Eugene   October 27th, 2008 10:57 pm ET

All Republicans, you are witnessing the last days of your reign of error. Now get over it with the ACORN idiocy. The election and voter fraud you have perpetrated on the American people will be tolerated no more, and all the attempts to shift the blame to ACORN will be fruitless. Happy long term minority status…until you can see the light!

KJL   October 27th, 2008 10:56 pm ET

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, ACORN National President Maude Hurd issued the following statement in response to Senator John McCain’s attack:

"We appreciate Senator McCain's effort to stir up the Republican base by attacking a community organization working to increase public participation in our democratic process. However, these attacks reflect an increasingly panicked candidate. Unfortunately, the Senator McCain we saw tonight is very different than the Senator McCain who stood shoulder to shoulder with ACORN at a February 20, 2006 immigration reform event.

It is clear for us to see that John McCain was for ACORN before he was against ACORN; he was for reform before he was against reform; and he was a maverick before he became erratic. What is really going on here is that Senator McCain and his allies are part of a coordinated effort to engage in what appears to be an unprecedented effort to suppress voter turnout. Repeating a lie doesn't make it true, and the McCain campaign has resorted to the worst type of deceptions in regards to ACORN."

Mike in Texas   October 27th, 2008 10:56 pm ET

A Republican smokescreen. Let's talk about YPM who intentionally deceived voters to sign petitions and then re register them as republicans. This is called slamming. Mark Jacoby the head of YPM was arrested nine days ago in California. YPM was paid $5 for every new Republican registered….only Republicans….Who paid them???
Steve Poisner…who is he?? The California co-chairman of the McCain campaign.. Now that is fraud.

Bama4Obama   October 27th, 2008 10:55 pm ET

Rokita is a Republican, I'll bet!

JILL   October 27th, 2008 10:54 pm ET

I can't believe it! Palin said she would vote to re-elect Stevens.
After he has been found guilty…I guess we all know how this chick works!!
OMG!

Justin   October 27th, 2008 10:54 pm ET

Verified instances of voter fraud in this country: 0.

None of these fake registrations is a danger unless the fake people show up and vote (or someone votes twice with ID proving they're "Mickey Mouse").

McCain and Republicans are getting hysterical about a non-issue. That's because they've left all the real issues behind.

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Robert   October 27th, 2008 10:54 pm ET

this is nonsense because if there are fraudulent forms the elections board will gladly throw them out. ACRON is bound by law to turn them in and let the elections board determine if th forms are legit. NOT ACORN. ACORN hires a subcontractor to get people register and they got paid by the nuber of forms filled out so thats how you get this kind of thing, especially in the economic mess we are in right now. Both parties have their bad apples when it comes to registering people to vote. It happens every 4years!!!!

HouseDiva   October 27th, 2008 10:48 pm ET

there's an old saying when it comes to making claims before the results are ever made evident…

who ever smelt it dealt it.

the GOP stinks of corruption

hurriCAIN PALIN   October 27th, 2008 10:46 pm ET

they should let mickey mouse, abraham lincoln, barney the purple

dinosaur, vote for the false prophet messiah saviour

Bill   October 27th, 2008 10:44 pm ET

Forget ACORN. The ones I'm worried about are the Republicans working to have the voting machines malfunction. If they can't beat Obama, ..cheat…….it's worked in the past.

Rogue Palin   October 27th, 2008 10:43 pm ET

Hey CNN, how about asking the McCain/Palin about the robocalls we are getting here in PA??? And the voters who are getting purged in Colorado. And the fact that I keep getting calls regarding what my ethnicity is and my age and my religion from the GOP party here.

Bridg   October 27th, 2008 10:43 pm ET

It must be cyrstal clear from their internal polls that the GOP is going down in a landslide. The fake outrage is just disgusting. The party of country first simply hates it when the people try to exercise their right to vote. The demons must be excised!

ugot2Bkiddinme   October 27th, 2008 10:42 pm ET

The average american with an IQ greater than 50 understand the difference in fraudulent registration and fraudulent voting. If Mickey Mouse is allowed to vote in Indiana then so be it. The likelihood of this happening is slim to none. Next Subject!!!!

Cora   October 27th, 2008 10:42 pm ET

Even if mulitiple voter registrations are submitted, all have to be verified at the time the voter actually walks into the polling area. A drivers license or something has to accompany the registration. These registrations are checked and balanced. Good grief, all this is, is a bunch of college students working to meet a quota. Nobody was trying to deceive the voters registration office. Let's all start using a little common sense. …something that seems to be lacking in the United States these days.

Interested observer   October 27th, 2008 10:40 pm ET

Fair, Fraud, if real, should be investigated. Equally, all genuine votes should counted. If they are, no doubt the result will be a landslide for Obama and Biden. .With less than a week to go until the election, John McCain is another day older and deeper in the polls and Sarah Palin is dressing down to reflect her diminished relevance to this campaign. Moreover they now have one more freak to add to their ghoulish house of horrors sideshow: Ted the guilty Republican crook. Happy Halloween!

RET   October 27th, 2008 10:40 pm ET

This should be looked into. Unfortunately for the republicans it has nothing to do with the vote count.

Republican Woman For Obama, FL   October 27th, 2008 10:37 pm ET

SHOCKING! MORE VOTER SUPPRESSION AND/OR INTIMIDATION FROM THE REPUBLICANS!

Independent for Obama   October 27th, 2008 10:36 pm ET

Another Republican trying to steal the election. Geez. when will this end.

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