[Vision2020] Multiple registrants tell Cuyahoga County Elections Board ACORN workers begged for signatures

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Multiple registrants tell Cuyahoga County Elections Board ACORN
workers begged for signatures
Pair signed multiple vote cards for ACORN
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter
Teenager Freddie Johnson said he was offered smokes and dollar bills
to fill out voter registration cards.

And now the Cuyahoga County Elections Board has 73 cards with
Johnson's name on them.
Johnson and another prolific registrant were subpoenaed to testify at
a meeting Monday as the Elections Board continued its look at possible
fraud by ACORN, a national organization that tries to get low- and
moderate-income people to register. ACORN's methods have drawn
interest in a number of states this presidential election year.

Johnson, 19, said he mostly was trying to help ACORN workers who
begged him to sign up because they needed to keep their jobs.

"They'd come up with a sob story why they needed the signature," said
Johnson, of Garfield Heights.

ACORN leaders have acknowledged that workers paid by the hour were
given quotas to fill.
Board member Sandy McNair said ACORN did not do a competent job
carrying out its business plan. Members, in fact, said little about
ACORN. And they turned their investigation over to the county sheriff
and prosecutor.

A second person to testify, Christopher Barkley, 33, said ACORN
workers pestered him while they tried to gather signatures.

Barkley, of Cleveland, said he was homeless and reading a book on
Public Square when he signed some of the 13 cards that contain his
name. He filled out cards — with his mother's house or workplace as
the address — to help workers stay employed.

"Me being a kind-hearted person, I said 'Yeah,' " Barkley recalled.

Barkley, who wore a Domino's Pizza polo shirt, also told the board he
was not sure he signed all the cards that had his name.

After the testimony, board Chairman Jeff Hastings paged through a
binder that contained copies of cards with Barkley's name on them, and
said, "This is ridiculous."

Sheriff's deputies interviewed both men separately after their
testimony. They were released and not charged. Chief Deputy Doug
Burkhart said they are possible witnesses.

The board decided that Johnson and Barkley must cast provisional
ballots if they vote in the presidential election. Provisional ballots
are not counted until after the election and only after a voter's
address is verified.

Two other people were subpoenaed for Monday but could not be found.
The board canceled both of their registrations and forced another
woman involved in the investigation to vote provisionally in the Nov.
4 election.

One of the no-shows has already tried to vote, the board was told. His
registration already had been canceled, yet he tried to register and
vote on the same day about two weeks ago. Board workers recognized his
name and stopped him.

Katy Gall, ACORN's Ohio director, said outside the meeting that she's
proud of the work her group did. Gall said some of the 13,000
canvassers nationwide obviously didn't live up to the organization's
standards. She said ACORN will continue to help with the county's
investigation and try to refine its programs.

The Cuyahoga board identified up to 60 people whose names appeared on
suspicious ACORN-submitted cards.

Elections Director Jane Platten said the board has safeguards to catch
fraudulent cards and stressed that voter registration fraud is not the
same as voter fraud.

Ohio law says a person must cast a provisional ballot if an address
cannot be verified. The board checks addresses by sending out mail
that is not to be forwarded. Poll books are marked to tell workers who
must cast provisional ballots.

Board member Rob Frost, also the county GOP chairman, said he is not
convinced Barkley and Johnson would have tried to vote more than once.
He said it's clear ACORN workers disregarded registration laws.

"I wouldn't want there to be widespread fear that what ACORN has
caused will lead to widespread [voter] fraud," Frost said after the
meeting.

Board workers said ACORN had turned in nearly 72,000 cards since
January. Of those, more than 5,000 were missing information and so
could not be used. The board could not verify the address on 3,500
others. Those people will have to vote provisionally if they turn out
at the polls.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jguillen at plaind.com, 216-999-4675
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1223973289273860.xml&coll=2