Sham Republican Lawsuit
To Purge PA Working-Class
Voters Meets Quick Rebuttal

By Randy Shannon
Progressive Democrats of America
PA 4th CD Chapter

They’re up to their old tricks again, only this time, we’ve got their number.

Saturday newspapers across Pennsylvania are carrying an Associated Press report on a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Republican Party against the Pennsylvania Secretary of State and ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Here’s the link:

http://tinyurl.com/PA-GOP-vs-ACORN

A purported copy of the GOP lawsuit was released to news organizations before it was filed in Commonwealth Court. The Pennsylvania Secretary of State responded to the Republican publicity stunt saying: “These claims against the department are simply not substantiated and appear to be a frivolous suit aimed at doing nothing other than undermining voters’ confidence just 18 days before the election.”

Democratic Party State Chairman T.J. Rooney stated: “The Republicans’ frivolous lawsuit is not about voter protection. It’s about the Republicans’ realization that Pennsylvanians have had enough of the failed economic policies of George Bush and John McCain.”

This ‘Depress the Vote’ lawsuit, along with investigations into so-called voter fraud by politically appointed attorneys general in Pittsburgh and other cities, is part of a bigger picture. It’s also the result of Bush and Attorney General Gonzalez illegally firing attorneys general who had refused to participate in the Karl Rove plan to sabotage the 2008 election. Now that a Democratic victory is within reach, the NeoCons around McCain are trying to create a scenario that throws doubt on the legitimacy of the election results.

Union and community activists in the election campaign in Western PA can learn more about the efforts to disenfranchise voters by attending the showing of the documentary film “Uncounted,” which lays out the various strategies that are being used against the voting public. The film will be shown at 7pm on Saturday November 1st at the Monaca PNA after a buffet dinner at 6pm. Reservations will be accepted by Tina Shannon at 724 843 0545 or 724 462 3469 until Monday October 27th. Click the link  at the top right corner of http://beavercountyblue.org for more details.

Today, MoveOn.org has also released the following statement exposing the NeoCon strategy:
“We’re hearing a lot about the trumped-up charges against ACORN these days-but very little about the massive voter suppression campaign being orchestrated by the Republicans. The GOP is trying to purge thousands of Democratic voters off the rolls in states like Ohio, Florida, and Colorado.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are falsely accusing a community organizing group-ACORN-of voting fraud to distract the media from their own party’s wrongdoing. Worst of all: It’s working.
The truth is, McCain is vilifying ACORN to justify voter suppression-making it harder for Obama supporters to vote.

For over twenty-five years, Republicans have promoted the myth of voting fraud to argue for restrictive voting laws-but Bush’s own Justice Department found virtually no organized voting fraud. Now McCain is attacking ACORN in order to justify a frenzy of lawsuits making it harder for Obama supporters to vote.

Here’s what he’s not telling you:

“The only fraud committed was against ACORN itself. ACORN hired 13,000 workers to register a remarkable 1.3 million new voters. And a few of them turned in registration forms with inaccurate and even made-up names to get credit for work they didn’t do. ACORN fired them and turned them over to the authorities.

“ACORN reported the fraudulent registration forms. In most states, ACORN is required by law to submit all forms collected whether they appear to be bogus or not-that way election officials, not partisan groups, can make the call. ACORN flags cards that may not be legitimate. And in many places, the charges of fraud only came up because ACORN was the one who flagged the cards!

“This won’t have any impact on the election. No one is allowed to vote unless they are properly registered. And there is no evidence of false registrations actually leading to organized voting fraud.
We can’t let false charges of voting fraud distract us from the very real voter suppression campaign that is already well under way.

Republicans are looking for typos on voter registration forms, threatening to challenge homeowners facing foreclosure, and falsely warning that voters with outstanding traffic tickets may be arrested if they go to the polls.

[Go to http://moveon.org for documentation]