Florida looks into vote fraud

The Associated Press has widely distributed a Tallahassee Democrat report on voter registration fraud by ACORN.

By BILL COTTERELL

Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced a statewide investigation of fraudulent voter registration Thursday, and Leon County elections chief Ion Sancho said college students seem targeted for electoral dirty tricks.

County officials and the Secretary of State's office have received numerous complaints of forged voter registration, voters' party affiliation or addresses being switched, bogus absentee ballot applications and other types of fraud in recent weeks.

Since early voting began Monday, there have also been reports of callers telling voters they can cast a ballot by phone or that someone will come to their house to pick up their absentee ballot.

The FDLE singled out an organization known as ACORN, which was behind the petition drive for a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour. That proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot is expected to boost turnout among poor and blue-collar voters, which would probably help presidential contender John Kerry and other Democrats. . . . More