Just as the Bush administration’s claims of voter fraud are being dismantled, so too is the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) — a conservative front group that identified pervasive election fraud. Slate reports:
With no notice and little comment, ACVR — the only prominent nongovernmental organization claiming that voter fraud is a major problem, a problem warranting strict rules such as voter-ID laws — simply stopped appearing at government panels and conferences. Its Web domain name has suddenly expired, its reports are all gone (except where they have been preserved by its opponents), and its general counsel, Mark “Thor” Hearne, has cleansed his résumé of affiliation with the group. Hearne won’t speak to the press about ACVR’s demise. No other group has taken up the ‘voter fraud’ mantra.
ACVR was led by Bush/Cheney ’04’s general counsel and produced such reports as “Democrat operatives far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression in 2004 than Republicans.” Many of its studies targeted presidential battle ground states.
ACVR, whose work has been commended by Karl Rove, was part of the Bush administration’s “aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.” Conservatives cited ACVR’s studies as evidence of pervasive voter fraud.
Of the 38 cases of voter fraud the Justice Department prosecuted between 2002-05, 14 were thrown out. As the New York Times notes, “In partisan Republican circles, the pursuit of voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities and poor people.”

I DON’T NEED THEM ANYMORE!!
HAHAHAHAHA
Now that I have installed the prosecuting attorneys I need all around the country, those guys are free to find great paying jobs with my friends in the oil industry.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:19 pmouooch…. I’m “Thor” ……. and I need to cleanse…..
May 21st, 2007 at 2:23 pmGood riddance to more bad rubbish. There’s a lot more to clear out.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:26 pmGone the way of Gonzo’s memory.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:32 pmwasn’t acvr the group that either only had a p.o. box address or a vacant storefront address in tx…? it looks like they see something on the horizon that we may be hearing more about for them to suddenly make everything they’ve been pushing disappear…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
May 21st, 2007 at 2:37 pmWay to go President Bush, you tell them liberals! The oil companies need good lawyers to profit from these frivolous liberals and their frivolous treehugging lawsuits from liberal media like NBC.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:37 pmThis is a bio from the ACVR..see #2 on the link. Note some of the names and the timing. Also…he testified before Congress in 05. When do you suppose he’s leaving the country?
Prior to joining ACVR, Hearne served as National Election Counsel to Bush-Cheney ‘04 and Missouri counsel to Bush-Cheney ‘00. Hearne has also served as General Counsel to Missouri Governor Blunt, and was appointed by then Secretary of State Blunt as an advisor for the implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Hearne testified before the U.S. House Administration Committee hearings in March 2005 into the conduct of the presidential election in Ohio. Hearne also testified before the Missouri commission established by Blunt to investigate the 2000 Missouri general election and voter fraud in the city of St. Louis. Hearne also served as General Counsel to the re-election campaigns of Congressman Kenny Hulshof and Congressman Todd Akin.
http://www.zoominfo.com/ people/ Hearne_Mark_175031224.aspx
May 21st, 2007 at 2:39 pmPatrick in a poison oak patch
May 21st, 2007 at 2:41 pmrats jumping ship to save their own skins
May 21st, 2007 at 2:42 pm“Thor?” Has his sense of proportion and/or irony completely atrophied after 6 /12 years of Republican thuggery?
May 21st, 2007 at 2:43 pmOnce again the trolls have nothing of use to add to the topic, so they have to rely on the same old talking points.
Put me on the troll ignore list!
May 21st, 2007 at 2:45 pmYou know, the true crime here is that this lone little group has been able to force down my earsdrums vibrations resulting in shrill static concerning a non-existent threat to my beloved Republic while all the true, and truly interesting, assaults on the body politic and reason are allowed to blow away gently in breeze with no vibration in my eardrum because the godd*mn media will not do its job and be the filter to the absolute BS that passes for information coming from ‘think’ tanks with no thinking inside. I mean really. Call these freaks what they are — freaks. It doesn’t matter where they went to prep school, or college, or grad school or law school, or where they did their post-doc or who they clerked for . . . it’s is what they are saying true. I mean, W got a degree from Yale, does that mean we can believe everything he says? What about his classmates? Perhaps equally as clueless.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:47 pmWell, at least they knew to pack it in when there didn’t appear to be enough voter fraud to worry about.
Now if we can just get some of these liberal groups to give up fantasy witchhunts we’ll be getting somewhere.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pmWhy won’t the mainstream media pick up these stories (I know why, but still like to ask)?
It’s just like how Republicans created fake news organizations like “Talon News”, and then the entire organization just disappeared when Jeff Gannon was exposed as a phony reporter who was working with the White House (and who later turned out to be a gay male prostitute). They just ended their website and disappeared, and nobody asked why they were so connected to the Republican Party, and why the disappeared suddenly when people started asking questions.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:51 pmheh heh heh, they disappeared all right, (love that word!) right (heh heh, there it is again!) into the brush down here on the ranch!
May 21st, 2007 at 2:51 pmThey’re workin cheaper than any of them immygrints ever did, ’cause I promised them they could be the resident lawyurs in my presydental library!
Wow! I wish some other individuals would disappear too! (i.e. Gonzales, Cheney, the entire Bush administration for that matter.)
May 21st, 2007 at 2:54 pmYou know, this is very similar to when Al Gore’s computer hard drive went….POOF! it just disappeared and all of a sudden, it appeared on the desk of a Chinese spy.
go figure….
do you think we will find this group on the desk of a chinese spy?
well, they weren’t selling ICBM technology like my administration was….
May 21st, 2007 at 2:54 pmI wonder if much paper shredding has occurred.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:57 pm#6 Patrick1
Way to go President Bush, you tell them liberals! The oil companies need good lawyers to profit from these frivolous liberals and their frivolous treehugging lawsuits from liberal media like NBC.
Even for you, Patrick, that was remarkably incoherent.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:06 pmNo more talk. Everyone please take action. Please sign the petitions to get congress and the house to procide with the inevitable:
Impeach Alberto Gonzales NOW:
http://www.democrats.com/impeach-gonzales-now
—-
Impeachment Petition of Bush, Cheney, & Gonzales:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/801106779
—-
Petition Calling For Impeachment Bush, Cheney, & Gonzales - DNC:
http://www.care2.com/ c2c/ groups/ disc.html?gpp=51&pst=857196
—-
Petition Supporting Impeachment of Bush and Cheney:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition
—-
ImpeachBush:
http://www.impeachbush.org/
—-
Impeach George W. Bush Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/ddc12/petition.html
—-
Petition to Impeach George W. Bush:
http://www.petitiontoimpeach.com/
—-
Petition to impeach Bush:
elandslide.org/elandslide/petition.cfm?campaign=impeach
Here are just a few. Pleae sign. They will be dilivered to the house, senete, and caucus for for support and leverage.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:12 pmPresident Clinton,
You shut your mouth!!
Nobody in here wants to hear about your presiding over a time of peace and economic prosperity. That’s so ten years ago.
We have a real agenda here of jacking up spending to all new highs, while cutting taxes to all lows. All in an effort to completely bankrupt our country. If you had gotten on board with that, then maybe I wouldn’t have had to run for President to clean up your mess.
I mean look at what you left me. Peace! Surpluses. For crying out loud, what did you think I was going to do with that surplus. Pay down the debt? NOW FREAKING WAY!!! WE put it in our pockets and all you peasant types can thank us whenever your ready for the jobs we allow you to have!!
May 21st, 2007 at 3:23 pmI didn’t write #21
name jacking going on for some reason. ALthough I think they might be on the right track. :)
May 21st, 2007 at 3:28 pmPresident Clinton,
You shut your mouth!!
Nobody in here wants to hear about your presiding over a time of peace and economic prosperity. That’s so ten years ago.
Comment by Crump’s Brother — May 21, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Wow, my brainwash tool. So you believed the media hype about peace and prosperity during my 8 years in office, eh?
There was so much peace and prosperity that Osama Bin Laden declared war on the USA back in 1996.
In 1993 the Worl Trade Center was bombed
In 1996 Ameircan bases were hit in Saudi Arabia by Al Qaeda
In 1998 American embassies in Africa were destroyed by Al Qaeda
In 2000 The USS Cole was hit and 20 Navy personnel died.
We had a war in Kosovo and in Somolia.
wow, you are right, it was a time of “peace”.
No wonder I won the Presidency twice, with such easily led tools like you.
and economic prosperity?
While I won’t deny that it was good, my last year in office was when a recession started. It was also when the .com bubble bursted, when gasoline prices started rising and when the dow started to come down.
Don’t believe all the hype about my administration. I bought the media and they were saying what I wanted them to say.
oh and don’t forget that Osama Bin Laden while I was in office called the United States a paper tiger.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:29 pmPres. Clinton, surely you remember that it was the GOP controlled Congress that pushed, and pushed, and pushed for access to China. You know, that feeling that goes along with the myth that if every Chinese human would buy just one of my widgets Mr. X GOP / Dem fundraiser will be, rich, rich, rich. Therefore, everyone was suppose to turn a blind eye towards all things medling by the Chinese. Sort of like how we deal with the Isrealis only the Chinese actually loan us money.
Why is it, when W gets caught with his hand in some cookie jar, the first thing anyone wants to do is say Clinton did it. Get over it. That’s so 1990s. This is a new millenium. This is a post-9/11 world. The GOP is suppose to be filled with good, God-fearing individuals whose lives mean something. Guess not. For the GOP the law is not simply the least common denominator amongst the people of this great Land. No, it’s something to be used and abused as you see fit so as to reclaim and retain the hold on American government that got lost during the days after we began fearing fear itself. You might love this nation, but you in no way love what it stands for.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:32 pmPresident Clinton,
“oh and don’t forget that Osama Bin Laden while I was in office called the United States a paper tiger.”
I wont, as long as you wont forget who was on watch when 9-11 occurred, and who still has not caught those responsible for 9-11. Deal?
May 21st, 2007 at 3:32 pmI did write #25 by the way!! :)
May 21st, 2007 at 3:36 pmPresident Clinton,
Let’s take a look at the record of the man who followed you in the Presidency.
War
Tax deferrals.
I’m thinking, I’m sure I’ll come up with something else.
Oh yeah, vetoed stem cell research based on his superstitious beliefs.
Flew back to DC from vacation to sign emergency legislation to keep Ms. Schiavo alive. Of course he didn’t do the same for New Orleans after Katrina. Not sure why?
Massive deficit spending. This must be seen as a success to the opposition party considering they have been doing it consistently over the last 27 years.
DEBT DEBT DEBT!!!
Higher poverty rate. Again, this is a success because for free markets to thrive, one must have a group of peasants to do the work.
I’m sure I’ll think of more, but I just wanted to let you know, that I appreciate the work you did, way more than current crap we are dealing with.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:44 pmIn 1993 the Worl Trade Center was bombed
Yup. Clinton’s FBI CAUGHT THEM, and
Patrick Fitzgerald PROSECUTED and CONVICTED them.
Thanks for reminding us of that.
And Trent Lott, Tom Delay, and all the rest of the Nazi azz-lickers of Bush REFUSED to support Clinton’s campaign against Osama.
The REAL test, however is THIS:
Clinton can go anywhere in the WORLD, and he is mobbed by people who LOVE him.
Bush can’t go ANYWHERE in the WORLD without an ARMY of PROTECTION.
THAT is the REAL test of WHO is a DECENT HUMAN BEING.
And, by contrast, who is a silver-spoon, lying, war-mongering little MURDERER.
God Bless America, Bill Clinton, The Dems, SUBPOENAS, and the WORLD!
May 21st, 2007 at 3:53 pm#6 Patrick1
Way to go President Bush, you tell them liberals! The oil companies need good lawyers to profit from these frivolous liberals and their frivolous treehugging lawsuits from liberal media like NBC.
Even for you, Patrick, that was remarkably incoherent.
Comment by chimpeach — May 21, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Wow. I didn’t bother to read the name of the poster, so i didn’t realize that it was intended as a serious comment.
Nicely done, PattySmall1. You’ve successfully parodied the troll parodists.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:09 pmClinton can go anywhere in the WORLD, and he is mobbed by people who LOVE him.
Bush can’t go ANYWHERE in the WORLD without an ARMY of PROTECTION.
Nice one, MBGTH. This is true and such a telling indication of which of these men was a true leader and which is a failure.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:13 pmPerhaps, with a little luck, Chimp won’t be able to go anywhere in the world after Jan. 9, 2009 without the risk of being served with arrest warrant from the Hague.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:53 pm#14
Good point. One of the very few journalists to focus upon this topic has been Greg Palast, an American who works for the BBC, and who was interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! last week concerning David Iglesias and voter fraud, specifically centering upon how African Americans who were serving in Iraq were singled out in the 2004 election and how this may have been orchestrated by Karl Rove.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:53 pmPresident Clinton,
“oh and don’t forget that Osama Bin Laden while I was in office called the United States a paper tiger.â€
I wont, as long as you wont forget who was on watch when 9-11 occurred, and who still has not caught those responsible for 9-11. Deal?
Comment by Crump’s Brother — May 21, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
yes, President Bush was on watch when 9/11 happen, but I was on watch when in 1993 the WTC was bombed and we were lucky the buildings didn’t fall.
What would the Liberals have said if the WTC would have fallen back in 1993 which was the original intention of the attack?
Also don’t forget that from 1993 until 2000 I had the opportunity to catch and destroy Bin laden and his Al Qaeda group, instead I decided to catch and do interns.
I was in office for over 90 months, Bush was in office for 7 months when 9/11 happen.
to blame Bush for 9/11 is ridiculous. I President Bill Clinton, right here and right now take full responsability for 9/11.
I did nothing after the 1993 WTC bombing to end Islamic terrorism.
Question to my blind and toolish followers, was the 1993 WTC bombing my fault?
May 21st, 2007 at 5:04 pmClinton can go anywhere in the WORLD, and he is mobbed by people who LOVE him.
Bush can’t go ANYWHERE in the WORLD without an ARMY of PROTECTION.
Nice one, MBGTH. This is true and such a telling indication of which of these men was a true leader and which is a failure.
Comment by Oversight is a Bitch. — May 21, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Yes, Hitler before WWII could go around the world and also be respected. What does that have to do with anything.
I, President Bill Clinton, have never understood the obession of the left with the world respecting us line.
who cares if the world respects us or not. I am admired because I did the will of France, Germany, Russia and not the will of the American people.
When was the last time that France cared about what the world said?
Who cares that when I travel some sicophants “respect” me and treat me like a rock star.
At the end I blame myself for not doing enough to stop 9/11. I did nothing to stop the 1993 WTC bombing.
All I did was interns and give the Chinese our ICBM technology.
The world also respected Stalin, and Castro and Mao Tsung and Hitler. Who cares if the world respects me or not.
During Nazi Germany the majority of Germans praised and worshiped Hitler, much like the left today praises and worships me. The Nazis were blinded by Hitler’s ideology and didn’t bother to see what a monster he was. Just because a majority of Germans respected Hitler, it doesn’t make him a good person. Much like today, just because a majority of foreigners respect Clinton it doesn’t mean he was good.
Besides, I don’t care much for individuals that are part of the masses that don’t know how to think for themselves.
Today the left does much of the same with me, they worship me, they praise me, they admire me. But they turn a blind eye on the atrocity my Presidency was.
The left claims to respect and admire women and to fight for their rights. Yet, they could careless about the fact that I used and abused women all the time.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:10 pmAnother group that also sprang into existence and was flouted by Ohio’s Ken Blackwell was the Election Science Institute. They seemed to have stopped updating their website just months before the 2006 election.
The supposed director of ESI
[ http://www.electionscience.org/about/votewatch_team ] , Steven Hertzberg, doesn’t even list ESI on his current resume
[ http://www.hertzberg.org/ ].
These were supposed experts who had immediate credibility with the likes of Ohio’s Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, yet had no prior record of achievement… nor interest in reminding people of their roles know.
UPDATE (8/6/07): Steven Hertzberg responds:
1. While project director at the Election Science Institute (ESI), neither I or ESI had any dealings with Secretary of State Ken Blackwell or his staff. They would not meet or talk with us during his time in office.
2. Election Science Institute began operations shortly after the 2000 Presidential election and was the first of such organizations, predating all others. As we choose to remain out of the eye of the media, many may not ben aware of our efforts and successes until much later in the organization’s development. ESI was chosen by county governments because of its expertise, its experience, and its objectivity.
3. ESI never stopped updating its web site prior to 2006, this is inaccurate. ESI simply chose not to manufacture media events for attention and donation appeal, instead the organization focused on working with election officials to improve the election system.
4. I do not post my resume online. I post an overview of myself that includes a limited selection of my background. I do not post a link to every web site that I have been involved in, however, I have included a link to the ESI website from my personal homepage. This claim is inaccurate.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:18 pmtypo
May 21st, 2007 at 5:21 pm“…of their roles NOW.”
President Clinton,
“I President Bill Clinton, right here and right now take full responsability for 9/11. ”
SCREW THAT BILLY BOY!!!
I wont let you take credit for everything good that happens to us.
If it weren’t for 9-11, and my totally overeacation to it, we could never have gotten the people of this country to back the invasion of a country that had nothing to do with it. Now we have an unending war with no exit strategy. When you did Kosovo, the real problem you had was getting it over with.
You could have really greased the big defense spenders by really busting that thing wide open. That’s ok, I did just that with this war, you adulterous loser.
I really resent you bringing up Hitler, Mao, Stalin and their ilk when you talk about America. You must realize that those of us on the right in this country get very offended when you compare what we do to terrible leaders like that.
And I’m not sure why you didn’t tell our “allies” to screw themeselves. We don’t need them to formulate good intel on possible upcoming terror plots. We have cred because we say we have cred. Just because the people of the world hate us, too bad. We have the big guns, if they don’t like, we can invade them and put up permanent bases in those countries too.
You keep talking about your blind followers, I feel ya. I don’t know what I would do without my toothless, science denying, kuckledragging, banjo playing, torture supporting, flag waving, uneducated, Fox News addicted, common sense lacking morons that support me. It doesn’t even matter what I do. They love me all the same. Ah that 28 percent group of mine. They don’t even care that we outed a covert CIA operative in the attempt to score political points. I know that it is straight treason, but no one will find out what happened, because we have a tight lipped patsie that took the heat for us.
That reminds me, I must pardon Libby soon.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:33 pmThey were involved in illegal activities, thats the reason they want to suddenly disapear, they know if there is any research into their activities they will be caught in felony criminal voter fraud
May 21st, 2007 at 9:41 pmOh no! But they were GOD’s own ambassadors to the worthy christian ‘merica!!! How can they disband now??!??!!??! Oh, pish posh. The end is near. Truly, Jerry Falwell was taken by christ in the pre-rapture, and the other two truly saved christians will be taken in phase 2 of the rapture (pat robertson and that other guy, what’s his name? it’s either focus on the family or the westboro baptist church - same guy, right?)
Ah well. Maybe it’s the end of an era. Now all we have to worry about is the Arabs, flush with crazy-rich oil profits, and the chinese, flush with crazy-rich “off-shoring” profits!!! America will become a third world country soon. Complete with republican “dick-taters” and undereducated ‘merican citizens (no child left behind?).
Well, the Antarctic will be a warm zone soon. Maybe time to buy land?
Wait - how did this start? OH YEAH, republican corruption! But that’s so “yesterday”
May 21st, 2007 at 10:10 pmWhich political party derided Clinton for trying to hit Bin Laden with cruise missiles in Afghanistan? Oh yeah, the GOP.
Which departing president in 2000 told his successor that Al Qaeda would be the biggest threat facing the U.S.? Oh yeah, Clinton. Who ignored that advice and stayed on vacation despite getting a presidential briefing in August of 2001 titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States?” That would be Bush.
Bush is not “tough” on terror. Osama bin Laden, the anthrax mailer, and the top leaders of the Taliban can all attest to this.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:57 pmGee…how convenient.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:55 pmMy advice is stop trying to ‘debate’ with those that give Georgie his 24% approval rating. The kool-aid has become a part of their brain chemistry and it is imposible to save them from their own stupidity.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:17 pmhttp://web.archive.org/web/*/www.ac4vr.com
This is the link to the “missing” web pages. See what you can do with this.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:24 pmAnyone wanting to check out ACVR’s web site can find it on waybackmachine.org:
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:45 pmhttp://web.archive.org/web/*/http://ac4vr.com
Well its good to know that Republicans have been ripped off for supporting these fools economically.
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