ACORN's 19 State Victim Strategy
All that trouble they have in 13 states? It’s not their fault
…
Promoted by Erick. Yeah, yeah, this isn’t about what Blue
Collar Muse is doing on the ground, but it is absolutely about what
is happening on the ground right now. This is quite important stuff
we all need to pay attention to.
Tuesday, my post
‘ACORN’s 15 State Strategy for Voter Fraud’ provoked a great
deal of response across the Interwebz. I don’t believe it alone was
responsible for the Left’s development of talking points but said
points were clearly in evidence. Discussion at
The Next Right was most brisk with Leftist memes posted in
abundance.
The short version? ACORN is the victim, not the criminal, so it
can’t be involved in vote fraud! ACORN has never been convicted of
vote fraud so it can’t be involved! ACORN reported its own
fraudulent registrations so it can’t be involved! ACORN cooperated
with the investigations so it can’t be involved! Real vote fraud
only happens while casting a vote at the polls so ACORN can’t be
involved. Statements to the contrary are based on isolated
incidents so ACORN can’t be involved! ACORN isn’t responsible for
the actions of a few bad eggs who make them look bad so it can’t be
involved. It’s the start of a multi-state victim strategy.
Of course this only works if the protests are legitimate. Let’s
take a look. . .
“Vote fraud can only happen at the polls!” would seem the most
exonerating objection. But this is a straw man. After all, ACORN is
an organization, not a person, so it cannot vote at all,
fraudulently or otherwise. Yet ACORN is being
investigated for vote fraud. How can that be? Because the law does
not confine vote fraud to merely voting behavior.
While I’ve not spoken with all of them, I called election
officials for the 13 states from Tuesday’s post asking about vote
fraud definitions. Those I spoke with agreed “vote fraud” was best
seen as a single, general term covering several, specific crimes.
Actually voting fraudulently is vote fraud as are any number of
actions, including fraudulently registering voters, fraudulently
registering to vote and more. Investigations of such behavior by
ACORN, its employees or agents are vote fraud investigations.
Ditto for convictions.
One ACORN apologist, Timothy, has continually asked me to produce a
single conviction of ACORN for vote fraud. The
Wall Street Journal says it happened in Wisconsin and Colorado.
Timothy says he followed my links.
Perhaps he missed the one for Washington state. Rotten Acorn notes
in this case, “Three ACORN employees pleaded guilty, and four
more were charged, in the worst case of voter registration fraud in
Washington state history.” ACORN settled the case. The
settlement agreement is here. It’s all about what ACORN agrees
to in order to avoid getting hammered.
ACORN’s agreement addresses the next objection: ACORN isn’t the
bad guy; their self-policing makes them a good guy!. As with any
such claim, the devil’s in the details. King County gave ACORN a
pass if they self-reported problem registrations within 14 days.
Self-reporting from 15-30 days earned them a $250 fine per
incident. Over 30 days brought a $1,000 per incident fine. The
question isn’t so much does ACORN self police as
when. The WSJ’s John
Fund has some insight into the answer out of Kansas City.
Finally, in the King County settlement ACORN agreed (as did all
the election officials I asked about this) they can be held liable
for the actions of their employees. No longer can they hide,
as they have before, behind the excuse a few bad eggs ruined
their reputation. Prosecutors may, for reasons of their own, choose
not to prosecute the organization, but it’s a real option.
Washington state found
ACORN’s personnel oversight to be “virtually nonexistant.”
Their training seemed little better. King County demanded the same
solution to the problem I suggested;
change your business practices! Train and supervise your
employees well. Tell them what breaking election law can mean. The
King County case was last year, 2007. Why, then,
is ACORN still having problems if all they are really committed to
is, as Timothy says, conducting “… a very successful effort to
register voters.”
There are major elections every two years and scores of lesser
ones every year. With all that’s at stake, there will always be
charges of fraud. But when one group routinely attracts accusations
of wrongdoing, perhaps it’s time to look at them. Regarding ACORN,
I say, “Democrats, perhaps it’s time to wash your hands of them.”
No voter registration organization has a track record even remotely
close to ACORN’s. And a rotten acorn can’t produce a healthy
tree.
It really is as serious as I make it out to be. Including the 13
states with ACORN problems this year, since 1998, the following
states have had problems with ACORN. Beyond their 15 state vote
fraud strategy, ACORN now has a 19 state victim strategy. And ACORN
only operates in 38 states. This is big and getting bigger. If
mighty oaks truly grow from little acorns, there’s no surer proof
than this. I think a call to the arborist is in order!
Arkansas
/
Colorado /
Connecticut /
Florida /
Indiana /
Louisiana / Michigan
/
Minnesota /
Missouri /
Nevada /
New Mexico /
North Carolina /
Ohio /
Pennsylvania / Texas
/
Virginia /
Washington /
Wisconsin.
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