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The Congressional Research Service has released a report to the House Judiciary Committee about ACORN, the community organizing group which has generated controversy on the right. John Conyers, who asked for the report, wanted to know about a variety of issues related to the group, and here were some of the results:
There were no instances of individuals who were allegedly registered to vote improperly by ACORN or its employees and who were reported “attempting to vote at the polls.” Memorandum from the Congressional Research Service to the House Judiciary Committee, “ACORN Investigations” (December 22, 2009), at 1.
As of October 2009, there have been 46 reported federal, state, and local investigations concerning ACORN, of which 11 are still pending. “ACORN Investigations,” Table 1.
No instances were identified in which ACORN “violated the terms of federal funding in the last five years.” “ACORN Investigations,” at 1.
Recently enacted federal legislation to prohibit funding to ACORN raises significant constitutional concerns. The courts “may have a sufficient basis” to conclude that the legislation “violates the prohibition against bills of attainder.” Congressional Research Service, “The Proposed ‘Defund ACORN Act’ and Related Legislation: Are They Bills of Attainder?” (November 30, 2009), at 25.
Concerning recent “sting” operations relating to ACORN, although state laws vary, two relevant states, Maryland and California, “appear to ban private recording of face to face conversations absent the consent of all the participants.” Memorandum from the Congressional Research Service to the House Judiciary, “Allegations of Recording Conversations with Various ACORN Affiliated Individuals without Their Consent” (October 9, 2009), at 1.
You can find the entire report here. Conyers, who initiated the study, said that there are more to come, including a GAO study about federal funding for ACORN.
Last week, a district court judge ruled that the ban on ACORN funding represented an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.” This is especially cogent in light of the fact that ACORN did not violate the terms of its federal funding within the past five years, according to the CRS.
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Yet, no meaningful investigation or sanctions for the egregious law-breaking and theft by such as Blackwater, etc.
The reality is that it is in fact CONSERVATIVE groups that are far more involved in illegal actions relating to the electoral process. One aspect of this is their use of illegal signatures to try and qualify INITIATIVES for the ballot. Right wing “signature collection” groups have tried to foist millions of fake voters on the public in these cases.
http://www.stopballotfraud.org/merchant/national_ballot_access/
The biggest culprit is Ward Connerly…but there are many others.
Many of their illegal efforts have been detected after audits of the names have found that the signers are not registered voters, aren’t eligible in the place they are signing, have signed multiple times…or simply don’t exist.
Yet when legislatures attempt to rein in such fraud Republican governors (like Schwarzennegger) often veto the bill.
In the ACORN case much of the fraudulent efforts at registering were “red-flagged” by ACORN itself. Not true in the case of these right wing groups. In the case of ACORN not one authentic case of anyone actually voting under false pretenses were established…yet most jurisdictions accept 10% of the canvassed signatures to be fraudulent…and still accept the petitions.