I happened to be watching the Fox News interview of McCain and Palin over the weekend, and you wouldn’t know there was a financial crisis going on because the ticker was all about ACORN, which has clearly taken precedence over the global credit crunch in the conservative universe.

“This group is engaged in a systemic effort to undermine our electoral system,” said RNC Communications Director Danny Diaz in a conference call recently.

GOP Chairman Christopher Healy meanwhile, claimed ACORN is running a "sleazy operation…ACORN, not just here but around the country is trying to stuff the ballot box," Healy said. "I think they’ve got to be shut down somehow."

Now before we get caught up in the hysterical rhetoric let’s make sure we understand the difference between a fraudulent registration which is the actual complaint, and voter fraud which is where CT GOP head Chris Healy and the National GOP are trying to run with this.

Fraudulent Registrations: Duplicate registrations are not fraudulent. They might be a pain in the butt for the registrar, but they aren’t fraudulent. A registration for Mickey Mouse, however, is fraudulent. A registration for Tony Romo is fraudulent if it is not filled out by Tony Romo.

BUT…none of these constitute voter fraud. What would constitute voter fraud would be if I walked into the poll with a fake ID and tried to cast my vote as Tony Romo or Mickey Mouse. (Given my…erm…vertically challengedness, I’d probably have better luck as the Mouse.) I’d need a fake ID because under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA -Sec 303b) anyone who has registered by mail or through a voting organization such as ACORN has to show ID in order to vote. And if I were to do this with fake ID I’d risk being charged with a Federal felony for my trouble.

So Mr. Healy’s claims about trying to “stuff the ballot box”, and all this malarkey about “undermining our election system”? It’s hype. But hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory?

Clearly, there have been problems with registrations turned in by ACORN. The organization has its own quality control checks and routinely notifies officials of incomplete or suspicious registration cards. According to an ACORN statement

It is our policy to turn in all cards, even those we know to be
problematic,to the local Board of Elections (BOE). Any problematic cards that we
identify are clearly designated by our quality control department before
turn in. ACORN has a strict quality control and management system. Each
applicationis checked over at least two times. One check is performed by the field managers and the second check is performed by the quality control
specialist. This specialist calls every single application that is
collected. At that time we determine if the card is problematic or
incomplete. When applications are turned in the Registrar of Voters is
informed of the incomplete or problematic applications.

ACORN follows the policy of turning in all cards, with problematic ones flagged, to comply with , which reads: “If the applicant entrusts the applicant’s application to another person or to such a voter registration agency for mailing or return to the registrars of voters, such person or agency shall immediately mail or return the application.”

It would be interesting to know how many of the problematic registrations in Bridgeport and Stamford were flagged by ACORN and how many by the registrars themselves.

But let’s look at the numbers. ACORN has processed more than 20,000 voter registrations in Connecticut so far this year. So far we have heard complaints about fraud regarding 10 in Bridgeport and 13 in Stamford, or less than 1%. Hardly the kind of widespread disaster worthy of knocking global economic crisis off the ticker, at least in my book. But maybe that’s because I’m not worrying, as the GOP must be, that these newly registered voters aren’t going to vote my way on Election Day. ACORN has helped register 1.3 million voters in 21 states. In a statement, Bertha Lewis, interim chief organizer for National ACORN, said that "groups threatened by our historic success" have on the warpath because of the constituency the group registers: As many as 70 percent of the new voters are minorities, and half are younger than 30 – in other words, judging by the polling data, not likely McCain voters.

Chris Shays didn’t seem to think ACORN was such an evil organization when he listed it as a VITA site for low income tax assistance in January 2007. Now he’s linked to the NY Post story”> about the 7 year old girl being registered to vote on his campaign website.

So why is the GOP making this such a big story? Two reasons. Firstly, I believe they are laying the groundwork for voter challenges at the polls on Election Day.

Under CT Election Law Section 9-232 “Each registrar may appoint one or more challengers in his town or district, one of whom may be present at the offering of any vote; and any such challenger or any elector may challenge the right of any person offering to vote, on the ground of want of identity with the person on whose name the vote is offered, or disfranchisement or lack of bona fide residence, and the moderator shall decide upon the right of the person so challenged to vote.”

While these challenges have to be made under oath and cannot be made indiscriminately, I have a feeling we’re going to see an uptick in challenges this year, which could have a dampening effect at the polls.

Secondly, this provides an excuse for a Shays/McCain defeat – an excuse more palatable to the GOP base than facing up to the failed economic policies, an unpopular war, McCain’s pick of a clearly unqualified vice-presidential candidate etc. etc.