October 7, 2008: ACORN’s Nevada Office Raided

Agents of the Nevada secretary of state and attorney general raid the Nevada office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on suspicions that ACORN is submitting fraudulent voter registrations, based on an investigation launched by a joint task force between the state’s US Attorney’s office and the FBI. No arrests are made and no charges are laid. [Clark County District Court, 10/6/2008 ] Due to the seizure of computers and files, the office is effectively shut down less than a month before the election. ACORN officials are concerned that the confiscation of their computers will hinder their get-out-the-vote efforts in a key swing state. [Huffington Post, 10/7/2008] ACORN interim Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis responds: “We have zero tolerance for fraudulent registrations. We immediately dismiss employees we suspect of submitting fraudulent registrations.… ACORN met with Clark County [in Las Vegas] elections officials and a representative of the [Nevada] secretary of state on July 17th. ACORN pleaded with them to take our concerns about fraudulent applications seriously.” [ACORN, 10/7/2008]