Vote "Fraud"

There are three types of fraud that can occur in the voting process; one is fraudulent registration of voters, which ACORN has been accused of.  Another is voter suppression, which the Republican have been accused of, and the third is actual voter fraud, which is when a voter votes multiple times, a dead person shows up to vote, or a fictional character casts a vote.  The third is the least likely and usually does not happen, but the Republicans are more than happy to connect a bad registration to a fake vote without any evidence whatsoever that proves this would actually happen, nevermind the strict regulations that would prevent such voter fraud from occurring in the first place.

This whole thing with ACORN filling out faulty registration forms is a result of the voter suppression tactics the Republicans are famous for.  The Republicans want less people to vote.  They certainly are doing their part to challenge registrations and eligibility of minorities, and in some cases have been quilty of tricking Democrats into registering as Republicans or even shredding registrations in Democratic precincts.  Here's a good example of some Republican tactics:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fraud20-2008oct20,0,3842357.story

Anyway, to battle this, the Dems want more people to vote, so they are pretty dilligent in the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) ground operation.  Unfortunately, groups like ACORN have earned themselves a spotty reputation with some questionable activity, HOWEVER there's no link to suggest signing up Mickey Mouse actually means that a fictional person named Mickey Mouse actually will or even could cast a vote.  There are ID checks in place.  So that's a non-issue.

Finally, the folks that report the registration fraud and inconsistencies to the government to get them involved?  ACORN themselves, that's right.  They have an interest in only turning in accurate records.  Sure some may slip through the cracks but they check their work first and toss out duplicate registrations.  It is unfortunate that many of the volunteers or paid staffers working for ACORN are lower-class people who aren't always looking out for the best interest of the country or their employer.  It's a small price to pay to help more people legitimately get registered to vote.  The Republicans would prefer less people have the right, while the Dems insist everyone has the same right and they're willing to deal with a little extra dead weight on the frontend to make sure they get as many people as possible involved in the end process, casting their vote and obeying their civic duty.