And the Winner of 2008's Most Partisan State Election Administrator Is...

Back in 2004, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell distinguished himself as one of the most, if not the most, partisan state administrator of elections in modern times. He won that title the old fashion way: he earned it.

Working hard to advance a Republican agenda at every opportunity, he issued ruling after ruling that harmed the interests of Ohio Democrats. He issued these rulings as Secretary of State while also serving as the state chairman of the Bush-Cheney re-election committee, at the very least an appearance of conflict of interest. If anyone ever needed a clear example of why the chief elections officer of a state should not be a political operative seeking to advance the rights of one political party over another, Ohio’s Blackwell was exhibit A.

In 2008, Ohio's Blackwell has departed, but the Secretary of State from neighboring Indiana, Todd Rokita, appears headed toward a win in the 2008 Ken Blackwell most partisan elections administrator award. Let’s examine how Rokita got to be the odds on favorite to win this year’s award.

But first a little background. The organization ACORN has become this year's poster child for what the GOP claims is widespread voter fraud. Some have even claimed the group’s activities threaten our democracy, even though there is no proof that a single allegedly false or fictitious person has become registered to vote or cast a ballot. To my knowledge, Mickey Mouse has not become registered to vote in any state and if he does become registered, he is unlikely to show up -- even in Florida. And if he does become registered and does attempt to vote, he’s pretty recognizable. He doesn’t look like the rest of us.

ACORN and its defenders insist that any duplicative or fictitious voter registration applications are flagged by ACORN when they are turned in by their vendors/contractors and that they are identified as such by ACORN when they are submitted to election officials. ACORN also says that they have fired anyone who has been caught filling out fictitious applications. I have not seen anyone contradict either of these claims by ACORN.

The latest salvo launched against ACORN has come from Indiana Secretary of State Rokita. He sent a letter to federal, state and local prosecutors (and the FBI) calling for an investigation of ACORN. In his letter, Rokita says that the group has not just committed voter registration fraud, they have committed voter fraud on a large scale.

Voter fraud occurs when someone who is not eligible to vote casts a ballot. He offers no proof or evidence that any of the allegedly phony registration forms sent in by ACORN have resulted in those persons actually voting. So Rokita's claim that there has been widespread voter fraud (as distinguished from voter registration fraud by an ACORN canvasser who allegedly filled out fictitious forms) is simply not supported by any facts.

Secretary Rokita claims he wants the people of Indiana to have confidence in the election system. But he has a strange way of giving them confidence. He publicized his highly inflammatory letter to federal, state, and local prosecutors.

I find it problematic that Rokita chose to publicize his letter requesting an investigation. If you are genuinely concerned with giving voters confidence in the election system, you would not, one week before an election, issue a letter like this, saying:

"This is not simply registration fraud. This is voter fraud every bit as nefarious as the evidence each of our offices discovered in the 2003 election fraud investigation of former East Chicago Mayor Patrick’s campaign. Furthermore, this is not simply a local issue. This is a fraud perpetrated on all of the people of Indiana because fraudulent registrations are the first step in diluting the voice of honest voters and rendering an inaccurate tally on Election Day.” (footnote omitted).

The obvious answer is you don't issue press releases or letters proclaiming that statewide fraud is being perpetrated on all of the state's voters by the mere submission of suspect voter registration applications, which were identified by ACORN as suspicious when there were submitted and which ACORN was required by Indiana law to submit.