Originally published August 2, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified August 7, 2007 at 12:36 PM
Editorial
ACORN's record: clean up or shut down
The ACORN case — what Secretary of State Sam Reed called "the largest case of voter-registration fraud in the state's...
The ACORN case — what Secretary of State Sam Reed called "the largest case of voter-registration fraud in the state's history" — has resulted in a settlement that looks at first like a slap on the hand. It is more than that when the details are examined. ACORN has done things similar in other states, and it needs to be cleaned up or shut down.
ACORN is an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a group that promotes left-wing and progressive causes. Its aim clearly is to change the outcome of elections. The effort here, apparently, was lower and sleazier than that: A group of employees tried to keep their $8-an-hour jobs without doing the work. Their task was to go into the community, find eligible citizens and help them fill out voter-registration cards. What they actually did was go to the library, or sit at home, and fill out hundreds of voter-registration cards with names like Tom Tancredo, Dennis Hastert, Fruito Boy Crispila and Leon Spinks, usually giving the addresses of homeless shelters.
All this was supposed to fool elections workers. It didn't.
The registrations were accepted for a while. Officials watched to see if anyone voted claiming to be Fruito Boy or his friends. No one did. If anyone had, it would have been an effort to corrupt an election. Still, the mass filing of fake registrations could be a first step in corrupting an election.
The King County Canvassing Board has invalidated 1,762 ACORN registrations, and another 55 have been tagged in Pierce County. Felony charges have been filed against seven persons, some of whom have criminal records and two of whom are in jail for other things.
Some of them, says King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, "are people you wouldn't want to hire to mow your lawn."
To avoid prosecution, ACORN has agreed to pay $25,000. It has agreed to train paid canvassers to state specifications and sign every registration they turn in, to have a paid supervisor responsible for their conduct, and to notify county prosecutors when they're coming.
All this puts ACORN under a public microscope — which, as its conduct shows, is where it belongs.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: A tragic clash of cultures

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Lt. governor's son shot by co-worker in Kent; gunman then shot self
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- DNA, ballistics tie man to cop killing, police say
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
261 - House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate
261 - Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
201 - McGinn more than doubles his lead over Mallahan
169 - King County OKs 'don't ask' law on immigration
132 - Resolute Fort Hood soldiers ready for return
128 - 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
83 - Time to bring Ken Griffey Jr. back in 2010
83 - Josh Smith picks UCLA
82 - Cutaia says replay handled properly on Austin TD
71
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
- All You Can Eat | Fruit flies: thrill to the kill
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Taste | Ruth Reichl still reigns as queen of America's culinary scene





