Republicans Accuse Advocacy Group of Voter Fraud

Republicans have accused the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), a housing advocacy group that is also known for its voter-registration drives, of voter fraud, reports National Public Radio.

Sean Cairncross, general counsel for the Republican National Committee said of the group, “It is at best a quasi-criminal Democrat-affiliated organization that willfully and openly breaks the law, is a clear and present danger to the integrity of the election process, and constitutes a threat to public safety.”

Mr. Cairncross alleges that employees hired to register new voters have forged voter-registration records and have felonies on their criminal records.

Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote, a nonprofit organization that works with Acorn in voter-registration drives, said that the Republicans’ allegations are unfounded.

He said, “It’s very unfortunate that people would misconstrue our work and treat what is essentially a hiring and employment issue and turn it into an election or political issue.”

Read an opinion article about the challenges facing the advocacy group from the latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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