WASHINGTON, D.C. | Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill, describing for Republican congressmen allegations of ACORN's involvement in "large scale" voter registration fraud in Lake County during the 2008 general election.

Rokita's testimony was part of a forum held by GOP members of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees on ACORN. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, an organization that advocates for low and moderate-income families, has come under political fire for allegations of fraud and misconduct.

In the written testimony released by the secretary of state's office, Rokita, a Munster Republican, said his office studied copies of 1,438 voter registration applications supplied by ACORN that had been flagged by the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration.

It found that 88 percent of the names on those applications could not be verified by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles database, Social Security number matching or by other name and address databases. It also found that 22 percent of the applications appeared to be multiple applications prepared by the same individual.

Rokita told the committee members that he disputes ACORN's defense that it would have been a crime to destroy a voter registration application without regard to the likelihood that fraud was involved.

"For example, though it may well be a crime to destroy someone else's income tax return, surely no one would seriously think that such a law would allow a paid tax return preparer to submit knowingly false returns," Rokita stated.

He went on to testify that strong evidence exists that ACORN violated multiple state and federal election laws, including racketeering laws and asked the committees to demand federal law enforcement agencies "to bring about clarity and justice in the matter."

More than a year after the allegations first surfaced, no charges have been filed and Lake County prosecutors say the case is still open.