Official wants charges filed against ACORN

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Indiana's Republican secretary of state claims he has evidence the community group ACORN has submitted fraudulent voter registrations.

Secretary of State Todd Rokita's office said an investigation uncovered "multiple criminal violations" in voter registration applications filed by ACORN, The Indianapolis Star reported Tuesday.

Meanwhile, ACORN says it had no choice but to submit the forms or violate a separate state law.

Rokita, who is Indiana's top election official, sent a letter to Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter and others, encouraging officials to file charges.

ACORN officials said they even flagged applications the group thought were fraudulent. An ACORN official called Rokita's actions "an unfortunate and partisan attack intended to challenge minority voter registration activity," said ACORN's Midwest director, Jeff Ordower.

"While we were aggressive in bringing potentially problematic cards to the attention of local officials for the purpose of ensuring the integrity of the voter rolls, Secretary Rokita seems to be aggressive only in his attempts to get press attention through his demonization of ACORN."