Lawrence on ACORN: CNN 10/22/08

Chris Lawrence on ACORN
CNN Newsroom
Commentary

TRANSCRIPT:
CHRIS LAWRENCE: We talked to one of the only Acorn workers ever sent to jail over this and heard why some say that ACORN itself is the victim here. This man helped register nearly two thousand voters for ACORN. But you couldn't find one of them that actually existed.

CLIFTON MITCHELL: And I regret it, I paid the price for it.

LAWRENCE: Clifton Mitchell spent nearly three months in jail, one of the few people ever convicted of voter registration fraud.

MITCHELL: I needed money, I needed to support my family and I was new to the area, it's the only job I had.

LAWRENCE: Mitchell said ACORN threatened to close the office if his team didn't meet its quota. So behind the back of their supervisor

MITCHELL: We came up with the idea, lets make fraudulent cards.

LAWRENCE: They took addresses from homeless shelters , faked the birthdays and used Baby name Books to create new voters.

MITCHELL: We used the newspaper everyday, everyday I would go to the library, get a newspaper. I had one guy that would use the phone book. Everyone had different methods.

LAWRENCE: ACORN was fined in order to improve its oversight. Senator John McCain campaign has accused the group of trying to rig the election for Democrats. Are we talking about these fake people actually showing up to vote.

PROF. ERIC SCHNAPPER: You look at some of the names, Mickey Mouse, Dr. Suess, Mickey Mouse only votes in Disneyland. He's not going to show up in a critical precinct

LAWRENCE: If anyone should be upset it is ACORN.

SCHNAPPER: The real victims of this are the people who pay these workers $8 an hour to go out and find legitimate voters and they didn't get their $8 worth they put down phony names.

LAWRENCE: Schnapper says threats of criminal prosecution may scare some groups into closing voter registration drives and keep some voters away from the polls

SCHNAPPER: that really does affect the outcome of the election.

LAWRENCE: ACORN just released a new video to fight what it calls efforts to suppress voter turn out. And for his part Mitchell says his team never intended to steal an election. A non-partisan group at NYU law school investigated voter fraud cases across the country, it found that most were caused by technical gliches and clerical errors and a person is more likely to be struck by lightening than impersonate another voter at the polls. (CNN American Morning 10/22/08 07:25)

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• TRACKING
• ACORN

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John Schuck