ACORN's Dirty Deeds Spread to Missouri

Over the last few days a there has been a lot of sunlight exposing the dark corners of the activities of the group called ACORN.

• They have been caught forging falsified voter registration cards in Connecticut and Indiana

• There are two indictments of ACORN workers in Wisconsin

• Hiring convicted fellons as registration deputies in Wisconsin and New Mexico

Missouri has not been left out of the action.

In Clay County, Republican Director on the Board of Election Commissioners Dave Reinhart has been on top of a flood of apparently false voter registration cards. We have three confirmed examples of possible electoral fraud.

1. Mark Bowlin - Clara Bowlin responded to a letter sent by the Clay County Election Commission stating that no such person existed. ACORN used her phone number and address to fill out the registration for Mark Bowlin.

2. Paul F. Thomas - A letter has been sent to Mr. Thomas requesting verification of his identity on polling day. The signature, Social Security number and date-of-birth do not match records.

3. Patrick Lee Matthews - A letter was sent to the address listed on the card. A man replied to the letter that he had a son named Patrick Michael Matthews. The name, Social Security number and date-of-birth were falsified.

It’s important to note that these three are likely a small fraction of the number of false registration cards that have been turned in by ACORN. Reinhart raised an important point with Caleb Howe of Redstate. ACORN’s employees are paid per registration. They have every incentive to turn in these falsified registration cards. They make more money if they turn in more cards.

Fortunately in Missouri, it seems that we have a reasonable system in place to make sure that a majority of these people don’t make it to the polls on election day. When a suspicious card is turned in to the Board of Election Commissioners a letter is sent to the address on the card requesting that the person bring identification to the polling place or they will not be allowed to vote. Often times, as in the case of Mark Bowlin and Patrick Lee Matthews, someone at that address contacts the Board stating that no such person exists. Other times, hopefully like Paul F. Thomas, the person doesn’t exist and isn’t allowed to vote for lack of identification.

Where the system in Missouri does fall flat is in the larger metropolitan areas of Saint Louis and Kansas City. On high turn out elections, like this year’s Presidential election is expected to be, polling stations are often swamped and under staffed. This leads to a chaotic scene where many IDs that should be checked aren’t. How many of the fraudulent registration cards aren’t asked to show ID? Even a tiny fraction could swing Missouri’s electoral votes. That’s why this issue is so important.