[Vision2020] From the home of “vote early vote often”

[No Weatherman]

Where's the outrage?


Lack of oversight blamed for fraudulent voter registration applications
October 3, 2008
By John Byrne Post-Tribune staff writer

CROWN POINT — A breakdown in quality control allowed a pile of
suspected fraudulent voter registration applications to find its way
into the hands of Lake County election officials, said an official for
the organization that collected the applications.

Charles Jackson, national spokesman for the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), said the group rigorously
inspects applications its canvassers collect on voter registration
drives across the country.

In Indiana, Jackson said a pile of applications which had been tagged
as suspicious accidentally got delivered to Lake County elections
officials along with a pile of "clean applications."

Lake County election workers discovered dozens of ACORN-delivered
registration forms they believe contain inaccurate voter information,
including one in which a dead man from Gary was listed as the
applicant. None of those applications was processed.

Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley pointed to the
applications to bolster his case that Lake County should not open
"satellite voting centers" in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago. He
argued it would be easier to pull dirty tricks at those locations than
in precincts.

But James Wieser, a former Democratic attorney for the Lake County
Election Board, characterized Curley's argument as a smoke screen.

"This is simply about suppressing people's ability to vote," Wieser said.

Wieser argued Indiana's voter ID law would make it tough to pull off
in-person vote fraud at remote early-voting centers the county intends
to set up at Clerk's Offices in the three northern cities.

"It isn't like you can walk in, say 'I'm Joe Blow,' get a ballot and
vote," Wieser said. "You would need to say 'I'm Joe Blow, and here's a
state ID card proving I'm Joe Blow.' "

Contact John Byrne at 648-3072 or jbyrne at post-trib.com. Comment on
this story at post-trib.com.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1199901,lcacorn.article



Lake GOP chairman warns of vote fraud
October 2, 2008
By John Byrne Post-Tribune staff writer

CROWN POINT — If Levy McIntosh Sr. makes it to the polls this
November, it truly will be a miracle.

The Gary native registered to vote with the Lake County election
office recently, even though records indicate he died last November in
Cook County, Ill.

Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley looks over a stack of
suspected fraudulent voter registration forms Wednesday outside the
Lake County Government Center in Crown Point.

Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley points to the McIntosh
application to bolster his case that Lake County should not institute
"satellite voting centers" in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago.

"If somebody posing as McIntosh went to vote, he wouldn't do it at a
precinct where people would know him," Curley said. "He would do it at
a satellite office."

Another application submitted by Crown Point employees of the
community organization known as ACORN listed a prospective voter's
name as "Jimmy Johns."

The phone number on the form is that of the Jimmy John's sandwich shop
in Crown Point.

Curley said the two applications were among dozens of suspected
fraudulent registration forms submitted to election officials by
representatives of ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now.

Attempts to reach ACORN representatives at various offices in
different states all were unsuccessful.

But the group's voter registration efforts have been criticized in the past.

The Michigan Secretary of State's Office accused the organization of
submitting inaccurate registrations this year, according to a report
in the Detroit Free Press.

Republican members of the county's election board say such potential
for voter fraud is one of the reasons they objected to the satellite
voting centers last month. The Democratic members, however, voted to
enact the remote early voting offices over the objections of
Republican members.

The board will meet Friday to decide how long the offices will be open
prior to Election Day, but Curley said the Republican Party is
planning a legal challenge.

Contact John Byrne at 648-3072 or jbyrne at post-trib.com. Comment on
this story at post-trib.com.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1197824,lcfraud.article