Rokita calls for ACORN investigation

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BY PATRICK GUINANE
pguinane@nwitimes.com
317.637.9078 | Saturday, October 11, 2008 | (21 comment(s))

INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's top elections official is calling for an investigation into more than 2,000 invalid voter registrations filed in Lake County by ACORN, a nonprofit group cited for similar problems in other states.

Secretary of State Todd Rokita said he has "secured credible evidence of fraud" and sent letters Friday asking the Indiana attorney general and Lake County prosecutor to join him in launching a review. Rokita said he also contacted federal prosecutors.

"There looks to be some felonious actions taken here," Rokita told reporters. "I think the message to the voters and taxpayers of this state is that we're watching, and we're not going to tolerate the kind of behavior in the state."

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it has registered more than 1.3 million voters nationwide, including more than 23,000 in Indiana. The group, which supports Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, claims it is being unfairly persecuted.

"We ourselves identified approximately 2,100 cards in Lake County that we believe were problematic," ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring said Friday. "We are the victim here because we have identified the problem, and now certain interests are turning that information against us."

Kettenring said most states require groups to turn in every voter registration solicited, which is why ACORN separated the suspect registration forms.

One form bore the name of a Gary man who died last year while another attempted to register the Jimmy John's sandwich shop in Crown Point.

Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker dismissed the call to action by Rokita, a Republican, as partisan "fear mongering."

"This is typical for Todd Rokita," Parker said. "The facts in this case are that the system worked. The director of elections in Lake County caught any bad registrations that were turned in. They were not processed. They were not added to the rolls, and no one received a ballot."

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, a Democrat, said he was "gravely dismayed and greatly angered' by the suspect registrations.

"I will be in contact and confer with all relevant parties to fully investigate this activity and take all and any necessary action to prosecute any wrongdoing," he said.

A spokeswoman said Republican Attorney General Steve Carter is reviewing Rokita's request.

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Kandi wrote on Oct 12, 2008 6:49 PM:

" Rokita for President!
He's THE ONLY honest politician I know! "

LoveAmerica01 wrote on Oct 12, 2008 12:36 PM:

" This is typical Democratic disrespect for our Country....Not at all surprising! "

FRAUD wrote on Oct 12, 2008 5:39 AM:

" I believe ACORN knew they would be caught so they 'voluntarily' turned down 2,000 registrations to make themselves look like they were 'the good guys', up front & on top of things, hoping people would believe they had tossed out all of the illegal registrations & we would look no further. HA! I'll bet only about 1 or 2% of these registrations they procured NATIONWIDE are actually legitimate. All of the registrations they procured should be tossed out & those few legitimate voters need to re-register. Also, as one poster said, since Obama's campaign gave ACORN 8 million dollars, that campaign should pay for the investigation. ACORN should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is a serious crime and should not be tolerated by American citizens. "

Obama Supporter wrote on Oct 11, 2008 9:24 PM:

" If people within Acorn are submitting fraudulant registration, as it appears, then they should be found and prosecusted. I find it hard to believe that an entire organization is intentionally trying to illegally influence the election. Whiel there is a good amount of bad registration, there is a large amount that are good. It's just my person perspective, but I suspect that someone is trying to get paid by hitting registration quotas. Obviously it has been made into a partisan issue, which is just as bad. Neither party wins when fraud takes place. Catch em, prosecute em...and restore faith in the system and the good work that the honest people within Acorn are doing. "

mts wrote on Oct 11, 2008 8:49 PM:

" Holy Poll Tax, Batman, there's possible voting corruption in Lake County! Lake County! Who'da thunk? "

This is a crime wrote on Oct 11, 2008 5:50 PM:

" ACORN is committing felonies, not misdemeanors. This should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The FBI should also look into ACORN because this type of crap is happening in alot of other states as well. It does not surprise me though that Obama supports this group of criminals. After all he is Crook County politician who also has ties to numerous other criminals(Ayers, Reczko,etc.). And to Kathy, how about reading the facts about the Florida election before you make false statements, instead of relying on the liberal media for your information. "

terri wrote on Oct 11, 2008 4:21 PM:

" I can't wait til Election Day. Then I'll know, for sure which President I will hate. "

PURE POLISH wrote on Oct 11, 2008 4:17 PM:

" WE are becoming more and more of a communist country. "

EC RESIDENT wrote on Oct 11, 2008 4:15 PM:

" I agree that ACORN needs to be investigated and FAST. Yes, in order to vote you need an ID. DO YOU PEOPLE REALIZE HOW MANY ILLEGALS HAVE ID'S AND DRIVERS' LICENSES????
In order to vote you must you must be a citizen. How come people do not have to prove citizenship when applying to vote!!!!There are Naturalization Certificates and birth certificates that can be verified!! Our system is broken! When I brought this up to Politicians, they looked at me like I was nuts. Oh, and Rudy Clay needs to be investigated, also. "

Taxpayer wrote on Oct 11, 2008 4:00 PM:

" I feel this early voting every where has left a big hole in the system for people to cheat. Years before people never had a problem voting on one day. If you requested absentee ballot you had to have a very good reason. Now it just for convenience. If you want to vote bad enough you would vote on election day. Polling places are open early and late & most employers allow for an hour or two for you to vote. "

To kathy wrote on Oct 11, 2008 3:56 PM:

" At least in IN you have to have an id to vote. Here in IL, especially Crook County you need no such thing -- that is why the dead vote earlier and often. Heck I can get a friend to vote the way I want in my daughters place since we have never been asked for an ID. I never nor will I ever trust Cook county voting system. Sad, very sad. "

electronic voting is corrupt wrote on Oct 11, 2008 3:05 PM:

" He should look into the electronic voting machines which are easily manipulated by insiders too. They should have to cast paper ballots so we can verify the information. "

hammond wrote on Oct 11, 2008 1:39 PM:

" Voter registration should be at the BMV, not at your front door or on a street corner. When you apply for your license or state ID you can register to vote if you want to. Obama's campaign gave ACORN 8 million knowing exactly what would happen. His campaign should be responsible to reimburse the tax dollars it is now costing to verify all of these voter registrations. "

kathy wrote on Oct 11, 2008 1:38 PM:

" Even if there are fraudulent registrations, to vote they need an ID. That's what matters in elections, votes not registrations.

Furthermore, why did they wait a few weeks before the election when the GOP candidate is behind? Sounds like the FL votes in 2000. That was also driven by the Republicans. And we all know what happened there...we had a president that was SELECTED not ELECTED. "

Randy wrote on Oct 11, 2008 1:08 PM:

" Since Acorn likes Obama all those registrations must be thrown out.Sorry we don't live in Russia.We have rules in place just for these types of problems.Indiana also requires an ID for voting so if Jimmy John from Crown Point shows up he better have an ID.Those panicked GOP who will try anything to stop others from voting are fans of scare and fear politics. "

John wrote on Oct 11, 2008 12:21 PM:

" I find the comments about throwing out the registration cards way off base since the law says all the cards must be turned in. If ACORN was trying to pass off bad registrations, why alert the county about them and seperat them out from the other cards?
I find it strange that ACORN is being accused of breaking the law when they were following the letter of the law and then some.
Many of the comments smell of Carl Rove scare tactics and polarization of the voters and are quite similar to many methods used by Sen. Joe McCarthy and many republicans since the days of Richard Nixon. "

katie wrote on Oct 11, 2008 11:29 AM:

" I think all registered voter applications turned in by ACORN should be destroyed. Talk about throwing an election. ACORN members should be charged with fraud. "

i dont believe for one minute wrote on Oct 11, 2008 10:48 AM:

" that this will be prosecuted. how is it that one person can turn in 2,000 forms? why is it that this is turned into "partisan wrangling"? This is criminal behavior. why is it that dan parkner can't see this. do we defend our team even when they are wrong? when the kids are out of school, the only place i'll see lake county is in the rear view mirror! "

ACORN attempted robbery wrote on Oct 11, 2008 10:33 AM:

" Plain and simple, ACORN'S actions are obviously blatant to ROB and STEAL the presidential election votes and the DEMOCRATIC party chairman Dan Parker dismisses Rokita's call for an investigation? How absurd! Maybe this whole presidential election is already staged with Mc Cain now backing down his campaign and all the news media polls that are so "skewed" out of whack to "show" that Obama is leading? Very very interesting. There could be more to all of this. There seems to be no difference between Russia and the USA concerning elections. It's unfortunate but socialists we will become because of the actions of our government officials. "

ACORN should be prosecuted wrote on Oct 11, 2008 10:22 AM:

" They are trying to destroy a FAIR voting process by dumping these GARBAGE registrations into the mix. Gee, dosent this remind us of what happened to wall street when all the toxic mortgages were put into the pipeline? Look at us now. ACORN should be charged for interference of the voting process! "

Carter Investigate wrote on Oct 11, 2008 7:52 AM:

" Do you think Carter is really going to investigate? He will drag his feet as long as he can and then say that there isn't enough time to start an investigation before election day. He's a joke. Let's see how much he's contributed to Obama's Campaign. This whole government in Lake County is a JOKE. It's like we're in a parallel world. "

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