Vote Fraud Deniers Won't Even Define the Words

Justin Levitt is often cited by the media for his study finding only 31 cases of vote fraud.  He is a recognized liberal vote fraud denier and the former counsel for Americans Coming Together, a parent group of ACORN that was disbanded after a huge FEC fine.  Leavitt defines vote fraud as:

Allegations of voter fraud—someone sneaking into the polls to cast an illicit vote . . .

On the right is someone who has researched vote fraud and groups like ACORN, Matthew Vandum, who defines vote fraud as:

Before we go further, let’s define voter fraud: It is unlawful interference with the electoral process in an effort to bring about a desired result. . . . It refers to fraudulent voting, impersonation, intimidation, perjury, voter registration fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, bribery, destroying already cast ballots, and a multitude of crimes related to the electoral process.

Levitt comes from a background of fraud and defines voter fraud very narrowly.  Vandum comes from a background of research and defines it broadly.  Along with his partisanship, Levitt's narrow definition explains part of the reason Levitt ignores and minimizes vote fraud.  Let’s just say we are glad the law agrees with Vandum.   

ACORN Back Up to Its Old Tricks?

ACORN is not dead.  It reformed as, among other things, the Working Families Party(WFP) in New York led by former ACORN President Bertha Lewis.  Now of course comes allegations of absentee ballot fraud.

How did the fraud alleged work?  First, WFP gave people pre-filled out absentee ballot applications. 

Plattsburgh Police were unable to go into detail, but they did say there is an open investigation into the allegations of voter fraud.

"We did not fill out the applications for the absentee ballots at all, they were already pre-checked out and everything was filled out for us," Rasco said.

Not only were the applications pre-filled out, they were false. 

Along with applications being filled out for Rasco and others, some reasons for needing to vote absentee were also apparently false.

"My girlfriend's came up that she was going to be out of state, which wasn't factual," Rasco said. "We didn't even know there was anything going on with that, nothing along the lines of breaking the law anyway."

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg.  In New York City, the WFP’s favorite son narrowly won the Democrat nomination for Mayor with help from WFP.  While he easily won the general election, without the support of WFP, he would had a difficult and likely divisive runoff.  The WFP party own actions plus their connections to ACORN, cast a taint on all associated with them.  

Is ACORN Back to its Old Tricks?

While ACORN itself effectively ended, ACORN reformed on the state level.  Many of its leaders went into other ACORN-related groups, such as Project Vote and the Working Families Party.  In New York the latter is headed by Bertha Lewis, former President of the national ACORN. 

The Working Families Party(WFP) in New York is mired in allegations of impropriety from all directions and all over the state.  Now at least one prosecutor has decided to present the evidence to a grand jury:

A prosecutor investigating possible wrongdoing by the upstart Working Families Party said he’s about to present evidence to a grand jury.

Special prosecutor Roger Adler declined to comment on the evidence, but told the Daily News he expects to convene a grand jury shortly after Veterans Day as part of his probe into allegations the WFP illegally gave candidates below-cost campaign-related services in 2009.

Of course the current leader in the polls for the New York City Mayoral race, Bill de Blasio, is one of the candidates who had the backing of the WFP in 2009.  De Blasio went out of his way to thank the WFP for his Democrat Primary Mayoral victory recently which barely exceeded the run off margin.  A margin likely provided by WFP.  Is New York City about to elect the Mayor from ACORN?   

According to New York Post Columnist Bob McManus, the answer is yes.

[The WFP is] fundamentally a vehicle for advancing the narrow, often-reactionary interests of unions.

Founded in 1998 by Lewis’ radically redistributionist ACORN, quasi-private-sector unions like the exquisitely ideological Communication Workers of America and fundamentally self-interested organizations as the United Federation of Teachers, the WFP early on saw a soulmate in de Blasio — essentially lifting him into the City Council in 2001.

Four years ago, the alliance was renewed as de Blasio successfully sought the city’s functionally powerless, but politically well-placed, public advocate’s office.

Now de Blasio and the WFP will ascend to the mayoralty together.

The allegations against WFP are not limited to New York City.  In Plattsburgh, New York the WFP may be illegally filling out ballots for voters.

Republicans cite an alleged effort on behalf of the Working Families and Democratic candidates to target voters who live in public housing or are SUNY Plattsburgh students who are registered voters but have a poor participation record in recent elections.

Republicans are concerned about the possibility that the voters were encouraged to submit falsified absentee ballots.

The effort, they claim, began with volunteers providing people with absentee-ballot applications, which is perfectly legal, and having the voters sign them. The volunteers, some Republicans claim, then filled out the rest of the form and returned it to the Clinton County Board of Elections.

. . . If an absentee ballot or application is filled out fraudulently, it could result in a felony charge for the voter and the volunteer who assisted them, according to Plattsburgh City Police.

Up to now it has all been allegations.  But that could change with a grand jury after Veterans Day. This could be just the start of problems for WFP. 

ACORN’s Evolution and Rise to Power in NYC

Bill de Blasio, the Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor, has an interesting past.  He was an aide to the last Democratic Mayor of the Big Apple, David Dinkins, and he worked as a HUD official during the Clinton Administration.  De Blasio even served as the campaign manager during Hillary Clinton's successful run for U.S. Senate in 2000.

 

But more interesting than all of that is the fact that de Blasio was one of the founders of New York State's Working Families Party in 1998. 

Don't feel bad if you don't know what the Working Families Party is or why it matters.  Under New York State's Election Law, minor parties have the ability to back major party candidates for public offices.  The candidates’ names even appear multiple times on the ballot.  This, as you can imagine, makes the minor parties major players in New York State politics.

In 1998, left wing activists at ACORN achieved the unimaginable; they organized their very own political party, the Working Families Party. 

Not only is the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio a longstanding ally of ACORN and its New York State affiliate, the Working Families Party, but this week, a politician with even closer ties to ACORN and the Working Families Party won the Democratic Party's nomination for New York City's second highest office.

 
Letitia James, a New York City councilor from Brooklyn, easily defeated State Sen. Daniel Squadron on Tuesday in the runoff for the Democratic nomination for the office of New York City Public Advocate.  Since no Republican is running for Public Advocate, James is assured a victory in November.
 
James has been a city councilor since 2003.  In his first election for city council, James made history by becoming the first candidate to win election to office while running on only the Working Families Party line.  
 
James' loyalty to her Working Families Party patrons continues to this day.  Shortly after winning the Democratic nomination for Public Advocate, James sent an email to supporters asking them to vote in November for her and her comrades on the Working Families Party line (http://nypost.com/2013/10/03/letitia-james-pushes-support-for-working-families-party/). 

Regardless of how the mayor's race turns out, it's a certainty that the radicals of ACORN and the Working Families Party will have a supporter and ally in the City of New York's second highest office. 

However this also effects the Mayor’s race.  The unopposed James will do the dirty work of working with the Working Families Party while ,now that he is through the Democratic primary, de Blasio has been talking like a pro-business, law and order centrist.  Don't be fooled.  Like James, de Blasio heart remains with his radical comrades who helped him to organize ACORN into a political party over a decade ago.

 

NY Democrat Mayoral Nominee Owes His Career to ACORN

ACORN is back. They just helped elect the Democrat primary winner in the race for mayor of America's largest city, New York.

On primary election night earlier this month, when she stood on stage next to [Democrat nominee for mayor Bill] de Blasio, [former ACORN President Bertha] Lewis made it clear ACORN’s work had paid off.

“We’re baaaack. The right wing will have to deal with it,” she chuckled.

According to the New York Post ACORN never went away just changed names and continued its master plan:

“Without exaggeration, ACORN’s long-range plan since 2001 was to elect de Blasio mayor,” said the Democratic insider. “De Blasio was a big ACORN project.”

The Democratic mayoral candidate has marched in lock step with ACORN, now renamed New York Communities for Change, even before he took public office in 2001.

ACORN was condemned and de-funded on a bipartisan basis in 2009 in part for its fraudulent activity. That the Democrat nominee for mayor of New York should so openly embrace and owe his political career to such a disgraced group should cause concern for New Yorkers of all politic stripes.

Was the Victorious New York Democrat Mayoral Candidate’s Margin Supplied by ACORN?

New York City Democrat Mayoral nominee Bill de Blasio won the September 10 Democrat primary with 40.12% of the vote; slightly more than the 40% needed to avoid a runoff.  A runoff  against African American runner up Bill Thompson could have been potentially devise and devastating to de Blasio's candidacy .  As we wrote earlier part of his narrow runoff proof victory margin was allegedly provides by fraudulent voter “impersonation votes”. 

Who else helped de Blasio to this narrow victory?  ACORN.  Yep, ACORN’s disgraced former President Bertha Lewis is bragging how she delivered de Blasio’s narrow victory.

Bertha Lewis played critical behind-the-scenes roles in the victorious Democratic primary campaigns of both Bill de Blasio for mayor and Kenneth Thompson for Brooklyn district attorney, The Post has learned.

. . . Lewis, a co-founder of the Working Families Party, was an early backer and adviser to de Blasio.

ACORN’s successor group, New York Communities for Change, endorsed de Blasio for mayor in early spring, and a Lewis protege, NYCC field director Harold Miller, helped run de Blasio’s field operation.

So it was no surprise that Lewis stood behind de Blasio during his primary night victory speech last Tuesday.

Or that de Blasio tweeted, “Thanks to nychange members for coming out tonight!”

Even in the unlikely event that Bertha Lewis has changed her ways, even the most hardened liberal and Democrat New Yorkers should be troubled by de Blasio's open embrace of Bertha Lewis.