Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita is asking for an investigation into possible voter fraud in Lake County by the community group ACORN. (WSBT photo)
Story Created:
Nov 15, 2008 at 2:48 PM EST
Story Updated:
Nov 15, 2008 at 2:48 PM EST
CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) — Lake County election officials say there were no significant problems at the polls because of new voter registration forms generated by the controversial community activist group ACORN.
Secretary of State Todd Rokita said last month his office had found evidence of "multiple criminal violations, including possible state and federal racketeering laws" in connection with fraudulent registration applications filed in Lake County by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
But Michelle Fajman, the county's elections supervisor, said only a handful of people cast ballots from among the thousands of questionable forms.
Republican officials raised concerns before the Nov. 4 election that poll workers would have to deal with large numbers of people who weren't properly registered in the heavily Democratic county in northwest Indiana. ACORN officials said the group identified potentially problematic voter registration applications among some 7,900 new voters but was required by state law to turn them in anyway.
The county rejected hundreds of ACORN forms and diverted another 2,000 questionable forms to a "double-check stack" in case any of those voters showed up at the polls.
"We only had to go to that stack about five times," Fajman said.
