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ACORN Group Accused Of Voter Fraud

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The Associated Press

Published: October 11, 2008

Accusations of voter fraud have hurled a mud ball into an already messy presidential campaign, with Republicans alleging that Democrat Barack Obama has close ties to an activist group accused of compiling fake registration forms, including ones for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys, submitted in Nevada.

Rick Davis, the campaign manager for Republican candidate John McCain, told reporters in a telephone conference call Friday that Obama's connections to The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, should be investigated. The group says it has registered 1.3 million poor and working-class voters in 18 states this year.

Some of those registration cards have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri and at least five other states. But two hours after the McCain campaign teleconference Friday afternoon, ACORN held one of its own and accused Republicans of playing dirty politics and of trying to keep America's less fortunate voters, who tend to be Democrats, from the polls Nov. 4.

"There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that the attention being paid by the right is tremendously disproportionate to the problem," said ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring.

In response to salvos from the McCain campaign, Obama's team shot right back, with spokesman Tommy Vietor calling the attacks "false claims that are nothing more than another dishonorable, shameful attempt to divert voters' attention from the unprecedented challenges facing their families and our nation."

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