Letter to Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Re: Action on Alleged ACORN Voter Registration Fraud

Letter

SJC Republicans Call for Action on Alleged ACORN Voter Registration Fraud

Republican Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today released the following letter sent to Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), asking that the Committee hold a hearing to investigate allegations that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has committed widespread, systematic voter registration fraud.

In the letter, Republican Judiciary Committee Members write:

"Such a hearing is needed to assure the American people that their voting rights are being protected and their vote will not be diluted by fraudulent voters."

The full text of the letter follows:

October 20, 2008

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Leahy:

We write to request that the Judiciary Committee hold a hearing to examine the widespread allegations of voter registration fraud committed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). ACORN is currently under investigation by state and federal authorities for voter registration fraud in at least fourteen states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Texas. The proposed hearing would examine what actions Congress should take to protect the integrity of the electoral system in the upcoming election and beyond. Such a hearing is needed to assure the American people that their voting rights are being protected and their vote will not be diluted by fraudulent voters.

As you may recall, last year the Committee held a hearing on the Deceptive Voting Practices bill, which is sponsored by Senators Schumer and Obama. At that time, we urged the Committee to examine voter fraud in addition to the alleged deceptive voting practices and to amend the proposed legislation to include language designed to combat voter fraud. The Committee declined our request insisting that voter fraud is not a significant problem. While expressing his objection, Senator Schumer stated "[voter] fraud [is] not systematic and it doesn't occur very much." Notwithstanding, the daily reports of new fraudulent registrations submitted by ACORN expose this fallacy. In recent days, we have seen criminal investigations announced and reports of tens of thousands of false registration forms appearing throughout the country.

Given the widespread and increasing allegations of voter fraud, we believe it is incumbent on this Committee to hold a hearing to examine this issue as soon as possible before the upcoming election.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Senator Arlen Specter
Senator Orrin Hatch
Senator Charles Grassley
Senator Jon Kyl
Senator Jeff Sessions
Senator Lindsay Graham
Senator John Cornyn
Senator Sam Brownback
Senator Tom Coburn