Block the Vote

Writing in The Guardian (UK), Brad Friedman offers a succinct summary of what he calls the "Republican voter fraud hoax." This is one of the best overviews I've found of the ACORN nonsense and what's really at stake, so I'm going to quote a big chunk of that here:

It's an old Republican scam, but it's never been carried out with more zeal than this year. ...

The only actual crime here is that ACORN managed to register some 1.3 million low-income (read: Democratic-leaning) voters over the past two years. The rest is, pretty much, just made up.

But in the bloody and desperate trenches of the Republican war on democracy, that's more than enough to kick in a last minute surge of lies that may -- with the help of a compliant and lazy corporate U.S. media -- wreak enough havoc, scare enough voters, confuse enough people and plant enough seeds to call an Obama victory into doubt on Nov. 4.

If you can't win it, steal it. If you can't steal it, claim the other guy stole it. If you can't claim the other guy stole it (yet), say they're about to and then kick up smoke that maybe someone will believe you. (Heckuva job, CNN.)

Here are the facts. ACORN verifies the legitimacy of every registration its canvassers collect. If they can't authenticate the registration, or it's incomplete or questionable in other ways, they flag that form as problematic ("fraudulent", "incomplete", et cetera). They then hand in all registration forms, even the problematic ones, to elections officials, as they are required to do by law. In almost every case where you've heard about fraud by ACORN, it's because ACORN itself notified officials about the fraud that's been perpetrated on them by rogue canvassers. Most officials who run to the media screaming "ACORN is committing fraud" know all of the above but don't bother to share those facts with the media they've run to. None of this is about voter fraud. None of it. Where any fraud has occurred, it's voter registration fraud and has resulted in exactly zero fraudulent votes.

You'll hear that Donald Duck, Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Mickey Mouse and (new this year) the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys football team have all had fraudulent registrations submitted in their names. That's true. And we know this, why? Because ACORN told officials about it when they followed the law and turned in those registrations, flagged as fraudulent.

What you won't hear is that federal law requires anybody who does not register to vote in person at the county office to show an ID when they go to vote the first time. So, unless Donald Duck shows up with his ID, he won't be voting this November. You needn't worry, no matter how much even John McCain himself cynically and dishonourably tries to mislead you.

Now House Minority Leader John Boehner is jumping on the bandwagon, spreading the lies about ACORN he hopes will keep poor and black voters away from the polls.

But Boehner also has something much more ambitious in mind. He's trying to do to the FBI what Alberto Gonzales tried to do to the Justice Department: conscript it into the permanent GOP election machine.

"House GOP leader asks Bush to cut off ACORN funds," the Associated Press reports:

Boehner on Wednesday urged President Bush to block all federal funds to a grass-roots community group that has been accused of voter registration fraud. ...

Boehner said his office had determined that ACORN had received more than $31 million in direct federal funding since 1998. He said the group had likely received far more indirectly through federal block grants to states and localities. "Immediate action is necessary to ensure that no additional tax dollars are directed to ACORN while it is under investigation," he wrote Bush.

So Boehner wants to keep federal funds out of the hands of ACORN. That's simple enough for the $3 million or so that Boehner says the group receives directly, but the real target here is that other money -- the funds ACORN receives indirectly, through block grants from states and municipalities. To prevent such block grants from benefitting ACORN "while it is under investigation," Boehner apparently would amend the rules for such grants to bar funds from use by groups "under investigation."

You see where this is going?

ACORN's voter registration efforts benefit Boehner's political opponents, so he and his party -- acting as his party and not as public, government officials -- arrange to have ACORN placed "under investigation." Next they want to change the rules so that no community groups that are "under investigation" can receive community block grants. The step after that, of course, is to evaluate which other community groups are doing work that might be perceived as supporting Boehner's political opponents and then to have them also placed "under investigation," and thus disqualified from any public funding.

The agency doing all of this placing under investigation at Boehner's behest would be the FBI. John Boehner is trying to turn the FBI into a political tool of the GOP campaign.

Note: "Place under investigation" is usually just a circuitous, bureaucratic and belabored way of saying "investigate," but in this case these are not quite the same thing. Republicans have contrived to have ACORN "placed under investigation" every two years or so because that serves their goal. It allows local Republican law enforcement officials to hold press conferences expressing their "concern" that new voters, too, are "under investigation," that newly registered voters are guilty until proven innocent. It allows these Republicans with badges to warn those new voters -- especially, you know, the black ones -- that there will be a law enforcement presence at the polls, and that these officers will be instructed to ensure that none of you people tries anything funny.

And then, quietly, a couple of weeks from now, ACORN will be, um, un-placed under investigation, or placed out from under investigation, or whatever the antonym is of this bureaucratese.

This won't mean the investigation has been concluded, because there won't really ever be an investigation. Republicans don't need or want any actual investigating to take place because they already know there's nothing to investigate.

Comments

[Jon]

On a related note, yesterday as I was walking to my gate at the airport I went past the Fox News Store and heard someone on the TVs on display in the store talking about how ACORN is responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The claim was that ACORN lobbied for the rules that made it possible for high-risk borrowers to get mortgages. After all, we know that the current crisis is clearly the fault of the liberals, minorities, and the poor, so naturally ACORN would be the organization that would have to take the blame.
The level of desperation would be laughable if I weren't afraid that these desperate tacticts might actually work.

[Sean]

Whenever I see ACORN bandied about as a bogeyman, I mentally substitute "Umbrella Corporation."

[VandanaShiva]

ACORN, the new 9-11?

[Chris Wolfe]

This isn't an official GOP tactic, but I've seen something nearly as bad in the right-wing blogosphere. (I don't know if it's on Fox.) The idea is to "prove" that Ayers is Obama's BFF by making donations to the Obama campaign in his name.

I guess they're thinking of the recent prank of donating to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name.

But there's a huge difference. You can make a charitable contribution in anyone's name. You might have to give your own name for tax purposes, but you can always do it "in somebody's name" in memory of a loved one, as a birthday gift, etc.

Political contributions are different. You have to swear that you're who you claim to be, that you're an adult giving the money freely, etc. You can't make a political donation in somebody else's name.

The same people decrying the "voter fraud" by Acorn are encouring others to commit real fraud in campaign donations. Classy.

What makes this even more fun is that they're also decrying all of the "illegitimate" donations to Obama. Tens of millions of dollars without any names and addresses. Again, this is perfectly legal -- he's pulling in a lot of first-time donors who are chipping in less than the $200 reporting threshold. It just looks odd because there's many donors that the aggregate amount is substantial.

The same people complaining about Obama's compilance with the law are encouraging others to break the law.

My head hurts....

[John]

Let's see, who else is 'under investigation' and may be receiving public dollars for their wardrobecampaign...? Sarah, Ted... such nice Anglo names.

[rm]

Fred, how do we get your blog to print on the front page of all the nation's newspapers? I can't find that function on my browser's pull-down menu, and it's really, really necessary to sustaining my sense the world isn't irredeemable.

The presence of pervasive corrupt lying evil in the media and political system gets me riled up. It's going to feel good to see the lesser-evil-maybe-even-good side win in an unstealable landslide this year, but the long-term problem won't go away. It's hard not to attribute false consciousness or mental defect to all the people who fall for the propaganda . . . but that gets into the topic of your recent post on mendaciousness and enlightenment.

It's just hard to see that liars almost always hold the megaphone while truth speaks in a still, small voice.

[Kristin]

Thanks for the post - lying bastards make me sad

[kodiak]

I don't live in the US, so can't do this myself, but could anyone file a Freedom of Information Act request for the documentation and conclusions of the investigation into ACORN? If they are no longer under investigation at the time I don't see how the FBI could credibly claim national security needs for denying the claim. Do you have to be a US citizen to take this on?

[SchrodingersDuck]

I went past the Fox News Store and heard someone on the TVs on display in the store talking about how ACORN is responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The claim was that ACORN lobbied for the rules that made it possible for high-risk borrowers to get mortgages.

The exact same claim has been repeated about Obama, and equally falsely. The one that springs to mind claimed Obama, while working as an attorney, had sued a bank to force them to give loans to people who couldn't pay them back, on the grounds that credit checks were discrimination. Of course, the closest he ever actually came to this working on a legal team that successfully filed a suit against a bank for giving loans to white people, but not to black people who were under the exact same financial circumstances.

Also, FOX News now has stores!? What on earth do they sell?

[Tonio]

Sarah, Ted... such nice Anglo names.

During rock 'n' roll's teen idol period before the Beatles, it was common to give Anglo names to singers with Central or Eastern European roots. I think of the stage names as "disgustingly Anglo-Saxon" because the name choices pandered to prejudices.

[Jon]

Also, FOX News now has stores!? What on earth do they sell?

They're essentially like any other store in an airport, selling books, magazines, snacks, etc. I've never really looked around in one too closely, but when I've gone in to buy a candy bar or whatever I haven't noticed that they sell anything too Fox Newsy. Same magazine/book selection as any other store. The only real difference is, as mentioned, the TVs that are permanently tuned to Fox News.

[Tonio]

They're essentially like any other store in an airport, selling books, magazines, snacks, etc.

I assume they don't sell The Nation or The Progressive or The Village Voice. Or, perish the thought, the Blade.

[rm]

Update: this helps sustain my sense of a not-wholly-irredeemable world (at least somewhere in a major newspaper, someone mentions that a story dominating news coverage is all completely fake), but it's not as good as being able to click a button and cause Fred's posts to print on all of tomorrow's newspapers. So, Fred, talk to your bosses about that, okay?

TVs that are permanently tuned to Fox News

The next step is to forbid turning them off, and we'll be in a Max Headroom-style dystopia. (When the TVs look back, then it's 1984-style). Which reminds me, depressingly, that fixing the newspapers actually won't help much, because the narratives are driven by TV. So, I wish for the power, like in Max Headroom, to preempt the stupidest TV stuff with facts.

[Kit Whitfield]

John Boehner is trying to turn the FBI into a political tool of the GOP campaign.

Are they aware that this is the method of a police state? Do they think it's somehow different when it's Us Doing It? Or do they just not care?

On a side note, I've noticed that the Guardian has taken to calling itself 'the world's leading liberal voice' on Google, which is an American term; 'liberal' in the UK traditionally means the middle-of-the-road party that never gets elected. (We're still allowed to say 'left-wing' without being accused of Communism, which is probably why.) While I take a certain amount of pride in the idea of the world's leading liberal voice being from my home country, I can't help but feel, too, how much the implication sucks: major liberal newspapers and media are scarce enough that Americans of good conscience are having to look abroad to get an accurate assessment of what's actually going on.

In the light of this, isn't there a gap in the market for someone enterprising to start a proper liberal newspaper in the States? I mean, enough people watch The Daily Show to get the news; surely people would buy it.

[damnedyankee]

Too bad. I think the Fox people are missing out on a real opportunity here for merchandising.

The Bill O'Reilly doll: Pull its string and it looks down its nose at you and lies to your face.

Gummy Colmeses: Available in a wide variety of flavors, these chewy candy treats bear the exact likeness of Alan Colmes. Plus, they stretch! They flip! They flop! They have nothing even resembling a spine! See? An exact likeness!

[Alan]

"Are they aware that this is the method of a police state? Do they think it's somehow different when it's Us Doing It? Or do they just not care?"

Yes. Yes. And Yes.

This has been another addition of "Simple Answers to Simple Questions."

[damnedyankee]

Are they aware that this is the method of a police state? Do they think it's somehow different when it's Us Doing It? Or do they just not care?

Honestly, Praline, I think they just want The Right People running things, and the rest of us to just shut up and sing along. To paraphrase Bill Hicks (something I seem to be doing a lot of late), "freedom" to them means having the right to believe what they tell us.

[hf]

You know, I once invented a Squirrel Conspiracy as an in-joke and a way of mocking the Jewish Illuminati theory. Apparently even the silliest parody now barely qualifies as parody.

[Tonio]

Now I'm hearing "Block the Vote" in my head to the tune of the Hues Corporation's "Rock the Boat." (Music geek alert - Motown studio legend James Jamerson played bass on the track, which is often credited with being the first disco hit.)

I'm inclined to dismiss Kathleen Parker's theory about Palin's appeal as pseudoscientific crap, but I'm interested in other opinions.

[lonespark]

Anglo-Saxon? Really? How about some examples?

[Naked Bunny with a Whip]

Do they think it's somehow different when it's Us Doing It?

Of course. We're talking about people who believe that torturing prisoners is okay as long as the US is doing it.

[Tonio]

Anglo-Saxon? Really? How about some examples?

What matters is not that the names were actually Anglo-Saxon, but that they sounded that way. The apparent goal was the smooth out what was deemed "ethnicity."

Stanley Robert Vintula = Bobby Vinton
Robert Thomas Velline = Bobby Vee
Walden Robert Cassotto = Bobby Darin
Francis Thomas Avallone = Frankie Avalon
Fabiano Anthony Forte = Fabian

[Prankster]

Actually, my esteem for America (a country in which I do not live) has risen immensely as it becomes obvious that the Republican's hateful tactics are simply not working in this election. What I want to know is why it took 8 years to kick in.

[mike.timonin]

I guess they're thinking of the recent prank of donating to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name.

This brought in some millions of dollars to PP - not bad for a prank.

[lonespark]

Well, I don't think that means they're Anglo-Saxon vs. Anglo-Norman vs. "mainstream sounding English/American, including whatever ethnic groups are considered sufficiently assimilated at the time." That last one because I specifically thought of the actress Margaret O'Brien. She changed her name to a very ethnic-sounding one, but Irish-Americans were then considered mainstream and nonthreatening, whereas Mexican-Americans weren't.

To what extent were the names chosen vs. imposed, and how does de-ethnifying the name rate as compared to just making it sound appealing? I mean, there are a limitless number of mainstream Anglo-American names that don't sound nearly as cool as "Frankie Avalon."

I mean, obviously your larger point is right, but when I think of "Disgustingly Anglo-Saxon" names I'm thinking something other than "generically reminiscent of Britain." Perhaps it is the SCA influence and lingering resentment that one cannot today get away with naming a child Aethelfrith.

[dewde]

"What you won't hear is that federal law requires anybody who does not register to vote in person at the county office to show an ID when they go to vote the first time. So, unless Donald Duck shows up with his ID, he won't be voting this November."

This is not true. Voter registration fraud is the prerequisite to voter fraud. If the voting system was as bullet proof as the article implies, we wouldn't be seeing Donald Duck registering to vote.

I watched an episode of Huckabee the other day and he had 2 guests that admitted to voter registration fraud. Both of them were registered via Acorn. The first guest claimed to have registered about 20 times. When asked why she said that the Acorn employee claimed to be paid based on how many new applications they brought in. She said she felt bad for the person and was trying to help them make a few more bucks. The second guest said he registered about 70 times. He said the Acorn employee would give him cigarettes if he filled out apps.

I don't believe that either one of these people intended on voting more than once. Further more, it opened my eyes a bit. I realized that if Acorn pays its reps based on the # of new applications... then it was Acorn that was being defrauded by its employees. I have no way of knowing if the management were complicit.

I'm not voting for Obama, don't misunderstand me there. But I am saying that this issue is not as black and white as the Republicans make it out to be. They are not handling this honestly at all.

peace|dewde
dewde.com

[Tonio]

Irish-Americans were then considered mainstream and nonthreatening, whereas Mexican-Americans weren't.

And half a century before, both groups would have flunked that test. I was objecting to American culture having such a test in the first place.

To what extent were the names chosen vs. imposed, and how does de-ethnifying the name rate as compared to just making it sound appealing? I mean, there are a limitless number of mainstream Anglo-American names that don't sound nearly as cool as "Frankie Avalon."

Valid point. I was condemning the fact that de-ethnifying was part of the equation.

when I think of "Disgustingly Anglo-Saxon" names I'm thinking something other than "generically reminiscent of Britain."

I was thinking "generically reminiscent of white suburbs."

[Naked Bunny with a Whip]

If the voting system was as bullet proof as the article implies, we wouldn't be seeing Donald Duck registering to vote.

You're seeing Donald Duck registered to vote because the law requires ACORN to submit all registrations, even ones which are plainly fake and are flagged as such by ACORN.

then it was Acorn that was being defrauded by its employees.

Yes.

I have no way of knowing if the management were complicit.

Sure you do: spend a few minutes doing some research. ACORN flags obviously fake names, but they still have to submit them to the government. I assume this is to prevent private organizations from filtering out legitimate voters based on an agenda, i.e. tossing out people registering as Republicans because your organization prefers Democrats.

[Boze]

I hate to keep plugging the Carson show (especially as I'm only twenty-one-going-on-twenty-two) but there really is an American named Donald Duck. He was in the military in the mid-80s and he appeared on Carson's show because of something or other that people considered humorous about his name.

[Boze]

So what probably happened is that Donald Duck really did register to vote and his registration was canceled because the Republicans found out about it and invalidated it as a case of voter fraud.

[Vermic]

Stanley Robert Vintula = Bobby Vinton
Robert Thomas Velline = Bobby Vee
Walden Robert Cassotto = Bobby Darin
Francis Thomas Avallone = Frankie Avalon
Fabiano Anthony Forte = Fabian

Also:

Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco = Lou Christie

[Tonio]

So what probably happened is that Donald Duck really did register to vote and his registration was canceled because the Republicans found out about it and invalidated it as a case of voter fraud.

That's very possible. I had pictured a Donald vs. Mickey election, with ballot irregularities in Orlando and Supreme Court Justice Goofy declaring for Donald.

Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco = Lou Christie

Good pull. He sounded a bit like Francis Stephen Castelluccio, lead singer of the Four Seasons. At least "Valli" still sounded Italian.

[hapax]

if Acorn pays its reps based on the # of new applications... then it was Acorn that was being defrauded by its employees.

According to the friend I have who works for ACORN, they don't. They pay their reps by the hour, precisely not to encourage such fraud.

The employees were still defrauding ACORN, but they were doing it *stupidly*. (What a shock. If I were to fill out fraudulent applications, I sure wouldn't use the name "Mickey Mouse" -- although there are legitimate registered voters in the US with that name.)

No matter how many registration forms you fill out, you still have to show ID to vote. And the elections officials record it, so you CAN'T vote more than once.

[cjmr's husband]

you still have to show ID to vote.

Varies by state. I don't have to show an ID.

[ohiolibrarian]

As far as I know, you DO have to sign your name when you vote and they compare it with the signature on the registration. It is considered one of the best preventatives against fraud, I understand.

Archie Leach was definitely an English name, but not as smooth as Cary Grant. I also suspect that names-you-never-see-outside-Britain, like Twistlethwaite, would be considered "ethnic" and not favored in Hollywood either. I think people with Slavic names got the worst of it. Just too long for the marquee.

[Jessica]

cjmr's husband wrote:
"Varies by state. I don't have to show an ID."

Huh. Interesting. I didn't know that. We have to show one here.

How would they keep you from registering with a different address and voting somewhere else?

[Caravelle]

I think people with Slavic names got the worst of it. Just too long for the marquee.

Now I'm wondering if they have special marquees in Bollywood.

[jamoche]

ACORN flags obviously fake names, but they still have to submit them to the government.

Which is probably a good thing - I've read Baby's named a bad, bad thing, so I wouldn't mark *any* name as "obviously fake". :)

[Jeff Weskamp]

"I think people with Slavic names got the worst of it. Just too long for the marquee."

And I imagine Slavic names weren't too popular in Hollywood during the Cold War era, either.

Speaking of ethnic names, I have heard so many people in Colorado voice distrust of Barack Obama because his name "sounds Arab." That totally sickens me. Being "Arab" is not a crime.

[KC Chiefs diehard]

"Being 'Arab' is not a crime."
ah, but being Coloradan should be. Especially if you're from Denver.
and a Broncos fan.

A friend was an elections officer for 20-something years in Montgomery County, PA. She only ever had one case of election fraud, where a young man attempted to vote twice; he used not only his own registration but also that of his dead father several hours later.
He did not succeed.

[peneli]

In most states, afaik, even if you don't always have to show ID, you do the first time you vote after doing a mail-in registration.

[Raj]

damnedyankee: ..."freedom" to them means having the right to believe what they tell us.

Free-dom? Free-dom? It is Yang worship word! You will not speak it! I plegee leegum...

[Raj]

Being "Arab" is not a crime.

As Yours Truly has personally experienced, some people in this country seem to think that "looking Arab" ought to be a crime. (Ironically, most Arabs that I've met bear a stronger resemblance to whites than they do to those of us whose origins are in India.)

[Reynard]

Posted by SchrodingersDuck: Also, FOX News now has stores!? What on earth do they sell?

A bill of goods.

[Lila]

For those of you who have not seen it on Making Light:

"Vlad and Boris" allegedly from Moscow make a music video for their neighbor, Mrs. Palin. Comedy gold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9V_aOCga0

[SwissCelt]

'liberal' in the UK traditionally means the middle-of-the-road party that never gets elected.

No, here in the US as well. It's just that over here, they're called "Democrats", and they have the misfortune of being the only major party to the left of the corporativismo fascisti pseudo-capitalist theocrats that occupy the current government. Then again, all other political parties, including the Constitution Party, are technically to the left of the party of the current administration.

[papa zita]

Hues Corporation's "Rock the Boat." (Music geek alert - Motown studio legend James Jamerson played bass on the track, which is often credited with being the first disco hit.

And I thought the first disco hit was Eddie Kendricks' Keep On Truckin'. Maybe it was protodisco, like the even older Freda Payne song You Brought The Joy. Bet Jamerson played on those tracks, too (though I don't know for sure - he was playing everywhere, even for Charles Wright). The story goes that the Larry Graham style of playing dominated later and James got less work over the years.

Yes, I am a music geek, too. old school R&B mostly. Anyone who hasn't heard of Howard Tate can pass along. You got nothing to show me.

[Karen]

I have worked for the government for 20 years. Believe me, you do NOT want to have strangers guess what is a fake name and what is a real one. The following is a list of people I have had as witnesses in hearings:

Marilyn Monroe
Rita Moreno
Paul Newman (2 of those)
Rodriguez, both Johnny and Alex
Emily Dickenson
John Adams
Glenn Miller
Jesse James and Warren Harding were Texas State Treasurers, when we still had the office, in the 1970's.

Rita, Emily, and Marilyn were older women who took their husband's last names when they married in the 60's. Well after their namesakes were famous, but still. They couldn't help it.

Then there are the non-English names:
Phuc Duong (pronounced Puke Dung, which, honestly, is NOT an improvement)
Dung Bich
Paul Fuchner (pronounced in the German fashion. For such people did God invent the word "Sir.")

It is unfortunate that English profanity is usually monosyllabic and that those syllables are used frequently in some Asian and Slavic languages. German has a large contingent as well.

Finally, the whimsical (No last names here)
Warqueena

If I spent some time, I could find many more.

The point, other than to make all of us with names that are easy to say,* is that it is by no means easy to guess what is a false name from just a voter registration application. I'm sure Mrs. Monroe up there blesses the invention of the Internet so that she can order from a catalog without having to endure endless questions, and that only if the person taking her order didn't hang up. The fact that ACORN registered someone named Tony Romo may mean that their employees were gaming the system, or it may mean that there is an actual person in Nevada with that name. "Romo" isn't quite up to the Garcia level of frequency, but it's not unique either.

*I hope that eventually we adopt the custom of married people picking the easier name to pronounce. Thus if Garcia married Cvojka, they both become Garcias. Cvojka is pronounced Quake - Ah. Just like it's spelled.

[Boze]

This reminds me of an actual question I had to answer on an Economics worksheet in Macroeconomics in high school. It began, "Four high school students invested in the stock market. Their names were Amy, Brian, Melissa, and Wang Suhk..."

[Ryan]

Free-dom? It is Yang worship word! You will not speak it!

So what's the Yin worship word?