This ad from People for the America Way is on page A13 of the Wednesday, October 22, 2008 NY Times, and it goes to the HEART of what the Republican attack on ACORN is all about -- voter disenfranchisement.
FRAUD.
You've heard a lot about ACORN in the media lately, accused of voter fraud.
But it's news fraud -- a false story instigated by right-wing operatives.
The wild charges made against ACORN aren't true. Period. It's the story the right wing wants you to hear and the media is reporting as unchallenged fact.
ACORN hired 13,000 workers to register voters. And unfortunately a few bad apples turned in registration forms with inaccurate and even made-up names.
Here's what's missing from the story: In most states, ACORN is required to submit all forms they collect, whether they appear to be bogus or not. That way election officials, not independent groups, can decide who gets registered and who doesn't. ACORN spends millions to flag cards that may not be legitimate. And many of the irregularities you've heard about only came to light because ACORN itself flagged the cards!
Meanwhile, ACORN has successfully registered over 1 million legitimate voters -- Democrats, Independents and Republicans. And there are no reported instances of organized double-voting -- so there's no chance this will affect the election.
So what's the real story?
The right wing wants to discourage low-income people and African Americans from voting. And attacking ACORN helps justify their real efforts to suppress the vote -- which are well under way.
In Indiana, the right is considering using home foreclosure as a reason to prevent legitimate registration.
In Philadelphia, an anonymous flier targeting African-American neighborhoods falsely warns that voters with outstanding traffic tickets may be arrested if they go to the polls.
In Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State rejected more then 6,000 citizens' registration cards because of minor errors like not marking a box.
Last week, Fox referenced ACORN 770 times on the air. That's to be expected, but then CNN and others parroted the same right-wing talking points.
Instead of hearing about the hundreds of thousands of American citizens who will be prevented from casting a vote this year, you heard about fictional people who will never cast a vote.
And that's the real fraud.
People For the American Way
To learn more, please go to www.PFAW.org/ACORNThis is the truth about the despicable, anti-American, anti-Democratic Republican campaign to disenfranchise voters and "purge" voter rolls across the U.S. These examples, along with the myriad examples of Republican voter fraud and disenfranchisement, are what the Republican's false charges against ACORN are really all about.
I heard a report this morning that voters who are "purged" are still able to vote but their votes are then disallowed, which amounts to stealth disenfranchisement. With less than two weeks until Election Day I urge everyone to contact their local election board and verify that they are indeed registered to vote. And tell everyone you know to do the same. Other than that, it will be up to the Obama/Biden campaign and the Democratic Party to counter the Republican voter suppression tactics to make sure ALL of our votes are counted.
The Republican Party pulls these same despicable, anti-American, anti-democratic tricks during every election cycle because they know that their chances of winning decline with each additional vote cast. The Republican Party has become the antithesis of democratic governance. Their anything to win strategy has divided our nation and the elections they have already stolen through outright voter fraud and disenfranchisement are the reason America is in the sorry state we're in today.
Country first my ass.
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