Progress Illinois

Last night on CNN's Larry King Live, Bill Maher made a brief but effective comment about the ACORN controversy manufactured by Republicans in recent weeks, which he called "completely bogus" and another example of how "people don't really get the true information."  His facts were a little fuzzy around the edges (for instance, he overlooked the role of canvassers in the process and suggested that voter registrations are happening over the phone).  But unlike certain CNN reporters, he noted that the problematic registrations being highlighted by the GOP were first flagged as "suspicious" by ACORN officials themselves. 

As I've written before, this fact completely undercuts the logic of Republicans' suggestion that the group is somehow trying to steal the election.  If they are and if these faulty registrations are part of that plan, why in the world would ACORN itself notify election officials of the problems when they turn in the forms?  As Maher said, "They're not trying to fool anybody."  Watch it:

Meanwhile, the New York Times editorialized on the subject today and came to this astute conclusion:

The answer is for government to a better job of registering people to vote. That way there would be less need to rely on private registration drives, largely being conducted by well-meaning private organizations that use low-paid workers. Federal and state governments should do their own large-scale registration drives staffed by experienced election officials. Even better, Congress and the states should adopt election-day registration, which would make such drives unnecessary.

The real threats to the fabric of democracy are the unreasonable barriers that stand in the way of eligible voters casting ballots.