Not This Time: ACORN Stands Up to GOP's Voter Suppression and Intimidation Tactics

By ZP Heller, Brave New Films
Posted on October 29, 2008, Printed on December 25, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://bravenewfilms.org/105220/

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has released its first-ever TV ad, urging John McCain and the GOP to end their voter suppression tactics.  If there's any chance of stopping one of the most widespread voter suppression efforts in our nation's history, please call McCain's office at (202) 224-2235 and tell him "Not this time."

According to ACORN, the GOP has resorted to all manner of voter suppression strategies recently.  Here are just a few examples from their press release:

• In Philadelphia, fliers were distributed in a predominantly African American neighborhood which suggested that people with legal troubles or unpaid traffic violations will be arrested by undercover cops when they show up to vote.
• In Hamilton County, Ohio, Prosecutor Joe Deters – who is also the local chair of the McCain-Palin campaign – requested via subpoena personal information for 40% of voters who participated in same-day registration.
• In California, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the California Republican Party, hired Lincoln Strategy in June for the purpose of ‘registering voters.’  The managing partner of Lincoln Strategy, Nathan Sproul, is a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for trying to suppress Democratic voter turnout.
• In Montgomery County, Virginia, a registrar issued a memo giving incorrect and intimidating information to students at Virginia Tech University about the consequences of registering to vote, including possible loss of financial aid and tax dependence status.
• In Ontario, California, the owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters was arrested on suspicion of voter registration fraud after dozens of voters reported that the firm tricked them into registering with the GOP by asking them to sign a petition they believed to be aimed at toughening penalties against child molesters.
  

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.

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