Indiana and Ohio Spar Locally with ACORNAs the Republican furor over ACORN and voter fraud continues to heat up nationally, there are two local developments in Democratic counties in swing states that are worth noting.
In Lake County, Indiana, where the GOP has already tried to prevent the opening of early voting sites in minority areas, the secretary of state has now asked the state attorney general and federal prosecutors to investigate ACORN for voter fraud.
Secretary of State Todd Rokita wrote a letter to fellow Republican, AG Steve Carter on Friday, stating that he had received “secured credible evidence” of voter fraud perpetuated by ACORN, the AP reports.
“There looks to be some felonious actions taken here,” Rokita said to reporters. “I think the message to the voters and taxpayers of this state is that we’re watching, and we’re not going to tolerate the kind of behavior in the state.”
ACORN responded on Friday saying that they themselves had “identified approximately 2,100 cards in Lake County that we believe were problematic.”
“We are the victim here because we have identified the problem, and now certain interests are turning that information against us,” Brian Kettenring, a spokesman for ACORN said.
And Lake County isn’t the only Democratic stronghold in a swing state to be targeted with voter fraud accusations. The bipartisan Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, a county which contains Cleveland, held hearings today and voted unanimously to ask the county prosecutor to investigate multiple registrations of individuals registered by ACORN, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Four people were subpoenaed in front of the board this morning, testifying that they had been asked to register multiple times by ACORN solicitors.
Katy Gall, the ACORN director for Ohio, said that they had cooperated with the investigation and would terminate the employment of anyone found soliciting multiple registrations.
No charges have been filed against ACORN in either state and in Indiana, the attorney general has yet to respond to Rokita’s request Friday for an investigation.