Richard Hasen: The fraudulent fraud squad

[maddezmom]

Richard Hasen: The fraudulent fraud squad

The case of the incredible, disappearing American Center for Voting Rights


03:49 PM CDT on Sunday, June 10, 2007

Imagine that the National Rifle Association's Web site suddenly disappeared, along with all the data and reports the group had ever posted on gun issues. Imagine that Planned Parenthood inexplicably closed its doors one day, without comment from its former leaders. The scenarios are unthinkable, given how established these groups are. But even if something did happen to either, no doubt other gun or abortion groups would quickly fill the vacuum.

Not so for the American Center for Voting Rights, which has vanished with no notice, little comment and with no apparent replacement. This operation – the only prominent nongovernmental organization claiming that voter fraud is a major problem – simply stopped appearing at government panels and conferences sometime late last year.

Its Web domain name has expired, its reports are all gone (except where they have been preserved by its opponents), and its general counsel, Mark Hearne, has cleansed his résumé of his affiliation. He also won't speak to the press about the group's demise.

Its life and death says a lot about the Karl Rove-led Republican strategy of raising voter fraud as a crisis in American elections. One part of the attack, at the heart of the Justice Department scandals, involved getting U.S. attorneys in battleground states to vigorously prosecute cases of voter fraud. After exhaustive effort, Justice discovered virtually no polling-place voter fraud, and its efforts to fire U.S. attorneys who did not push the voter-fraud line enough has backfired.

more:http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-hasen_10edi.ART.State.Edition1.436da28.html

[maddezmom]

1. Think Progress from last month: Right-Wing ‘Voting Rights’ Group Has Disappeared

Right-Wing ‘Voting Rights’ Group Has Disappeared

Just as the Bush administration’s claims of voter fraud are being dismantled, so too is the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) — a conservative front group that identified pervasive election fraud. Slate reports:

With no notice and little comment, ACVR — the only prominent nongovernmental organization claiming that voter fraud is a major problem, a problem warranting strict rules such as voter-ID laws — simply stopped appearing at government panels and conferences. Its Web domain name has suddenly expired, its reports are all gone (except where they have been preserved by its opponents), and its general counsel, Mark “Thor” Hearne, has cleansed his résumé of affiliation with the group. Hearne won’t speak to the press about ACVR’s demise. No other group has taken up the ‘voter fraud’ mantra.

ACVR was led by Bush/Cheney ’04’s general counsel and produced such reports as “Democrat operatives far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression in 2004 than Republicans.” Many of its studies targeted presidential battle ground states.

ACVR, whose work has been commended by Karl Rove, was part of the Bush administration’s “aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.” Conservatives cited ACVR’s studies as evidence of pervasive voter fraud.

more:http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/21/acvr-disappear/