Kurt Nicklas
2008-10-13 22:57:31 UTC
Cleveland Election Officials Launch Probe of ACORN
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, election officials on Monday called on the
prosecuting attorney to investigate whether the community organizing
group ACORN signed up people to vote multiple times.
FOXNews.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
Monday: Freddie Johnson said he signed 73 voter registration forms
offered by ACORN workers (AP Photo/Marvin Fong/Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Election officials in Ohio's most populous county
have called on the prosecuting attorney to investigate alleged voter
registration fraud by the community organizing group ACORN.
The bipartisan Cuyahoga County Board of Elections voted unanimously
Monday to ask prosecutor Bill Mason to investigate four incidents of
people signing multiple voter registration forms at the request of the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform.
One of those voters, 19-year-old Freddie Johnson, told FOX News that
he signed 73 voter registration forms over a five-month period.
The Cleveland resident said he was trying to help paid ACORN
solicitors collect signed registrations, and he did not understand the
proper voter-registration procedures.
The group was "trying to get signatures so they can make their money,
and I was trying to help them," Johnson said.
ACORN's state director, Katy Gall, said the organization would fire
anyone seeking to acquire duplicate registrations and is cooperating
with the investigation..
ACORN -- which has a history of voter fraud allegations -- says it has
signed up 1.3 million poor and working-class voters this year in a
mass registration drive in 18 states. Some of those registration cards
have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut,
Missouri and other states.
Johnson, one of four people subpoenaed to testify over duplicate
registrations in Cleveland on Monday, told FOX News that the sheriff's
department had assured him that the investigation was aimed at ACORN
solicitors, and that he would not face criminal charges.
During the board meeting, Johnson said he would sometimes get
approached by six or seven ACORN voter-registration solicitors while
waiting for a bus. Other canvassers stood 10 feet away while a
solicitor approached him, he said.
"They never told me I couldn't stop signing them," said Johnson. He
said the solicitors never indicated that he was doing something
unlawful.
A second new voter, Christopher Barkley, a pizza delivery man from
Cleveland, is also facing questioning for allegedly registering to
vote 10 to 15 times through ACORN.
Barkley said he was approached multiple times by ACORN workers while
sitting in a public square. He said the group's solicitors told him
they were getting paid by the name to sign up voters.
"I 'd be like, 'No, I'm already registered,'" Barkley said.
"Then they just asked me again, like, 'I need a job, I'm just trying
to hold on to a job. So would you sign it for me? I need 25 or more. I
need a certain amount of them.' So me being the kind-hearted person, I
say, 'Yeah.'
"I didn't know that I'd have to be in here for this," Barkley said.
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, election officials on Monday called on the
prosecuting attorney to investigate whether the community organizing
group ACORN signed up people to vote multiple times.
FOXNews.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
Monday: Freddie Johnson said he signed 73 voter registration forms
offered by ACORN workers (AP Photo/Marvin Fong/Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Election officials in Ohio's most populous county
have called on the prosecuting attorney to investigate alleged voter
registration fraud by the community organizing group ACORN.
The bipartisan Cuyahoga County Board of Elections voted unanimously
Monday to ask prosecutor Bill Mason to investigate four incidents of
people signing multiple voter registration forms at the request of the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform.
One of those voters, 19-year-old Freddie Johnson, told FOX News that
he signed 73 voter registration forms over a five-month period.
The Cleveland resident said he was trying to help paid ACORN
solicitors collect signed registrations, and he did not understand the
proper voter-registration procedures.
The group was "trying to get signatures so they can make their money,
and I was trying to help them," Johnson said.
ACORN's state director, Katy Gall, said the organization would fire
anyone seeking to acquire duplicate registrations and is cooperating
with the investigation..
ACORN -- which has a history of voter fraud allegations -- says it has
signed up 1.3 million poor and working-class voters this year in a
mass registration drive in 18 states. Some of those registration cards
have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut,
Missouri and other states.
Johnson, one of four people subpoenaed to testify over duplicate
registrations in Cleveland on Monday, told FOX News that the sheriff's
department had assured him that the investigation was aimed at ACORN
solicitors, and that he would not face criminal charges.
During the board meeting, Johnson said he would sometimes get
approached by six or seven ACORN voter-registration solicitors while
waiting for a bus. Other canvassers stood 10 feet away while a
solicitor approached him, he said.
"They never told me I couldn't stop signing them," said Johnson. He
said the solicitors never indicated that he was doing something
unlawful.
A second new voter, Christopher Barkley, a pizza delivery man from
Cleveland, is also facing questioning for allegedly registering to
vote 10 to 15 times through ACORN.
Barkley said he was approached multiple times by ACORN workers while
sitting in a public square. He said the group's solicitors told him
they were getting paid by the name to sign up voters.
"I 'd be like, 'No, I'm already registered,'" Barkley said.
"Then they just asked me again, like, 'I need a job, I'm just trying
to hold on to a job. So would you sign it for me? I need 25 or more. I
need a certain amount of them.' So me being the kind-hearted person, I
say, 'Yeah.'
"I didn't know that I'd have to be in here for this," Barkley said.
