The New Media Journal | ACORN Aims to Tip New Jersey Election in Corzine's Favor

The New Media Journal | ACORN Aims to Tip New Jersey Election in Corzine's Favor: "Fearing a potentially devastating Democratic loss, the highly controversial Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) group and its affiliated organizations are gearing up to tip the scales and re-elect the beleaguered incumbent in the hard-fought New Jersey gubernatorial race, sources said.

'ACORN is heavily involved in Gov. Jon Corzine's get-out-the-vote operation, but is maintaining a low profile at the insistence of the Corzine campaign,' Matthew Vadum, senior editor of the conservative Capital Research Center think tank, tells NewsMax. 'If Corzine manages to win reelection, he doesn't want the victory tainted by his close association with ACORN.'

Wall Street Journal columnist and author John Fund wrote Tuesday that 'Plenty of reasons exist for suspecting absentee fraud may play a significant role in tomorrow's Garden State contests.'

ACORN-linked groups from neighboring Pennsylvania and New York 'appear to have moved into the state,' Fund wrote.

Fund also reported that the state's Democratic Party is pressuring county clerks around the Garden State to downplay signature checks on absentee ballots. Without such checking, it is very difficult to detect absentee vote fraud.

Although bruised and battered by the recent undercover videos depicting workers at various ACORN offices giving advice on tax evasion to a reputed child-prostitution ring, ACORN remains a potent political force in many regions. It has been the focus of voter-registration fraud investigations in more than a dozen states.

A search of the Acorn.org Web site shows that the organization has a heavy presence in New Jersey. It maintains offices in Jersey City, Trenton, Paterson, and Newark.

The group could play an important role in voter turnout, which many pundits predict will determine whether Corzine or his Republican challenger, Chris Christie, emerges victorious.

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Christie clinging to a narrow 42 percent to 40 percent lead over Corzine, with independent Christopher Daggett garnering 12 percent. Among those Daggett voters who say they may change their minds, Christie is preferred 39 percent to 29 percent."