While the GOP point fingers of voter fraud at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the Grand Old Party has been brewing its own pot of unscrupulous stew.
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported the arrest of Mark Jacoby, owner of Young Political Majors, a firm hired by the California Republican Party to register tens of thousands of voters. Jacoby was arrested on charges of voter fraud after he registered himself to vote at a childhood California residence where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirements that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California.
The arrest comes as several California residents say they were duped into registering as Republicans after signing a petition asking for stiffer penalties for child molesters. Jacoby’s lawyer denies any wrong doing, instead insisting that the investigation was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, the Republicans’ continued hammering of the ACORN issue seems to be going nowhere fast. Yesterday, ACORN held a conference call to dispels claims made by the New Mexico GOP that 28 people voted fraudulently in the Democratic primary, held in June. Apparently, election officials had confirmed the the 28, mostly low-income Latino voters, were indeed valid voters.
When questioned about the developments by Talking Points Memo, party spokesman Danny Diaz did what spokespeople do best, dodged the questions. He shifted the conversation to fraudulent voting in Washington state. His crusade against ACORN continued. When the question was proposed a second time Diaz re-strategized and switched to a more overarching attack on the organization.
New York Times columnist Bob Herbert points to a long history of Republican voter prevention tactics. “In one politically crucial state after another – in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, you name it – the GOP has unleashed foot soldiers whose insidious mission is to make the voting process as difficult as possible – or, better yet, impossible – for citizens who are believed to favor Democrats,” he wrote.
It’s ironic that as the GOP attempts to stand as vanguards against all that’s wrong with voter fraud, the organization seemingly perpetrates its own voter shenanigans.
Renita Burns is the editorial assistant at BlackEnterprise.com