Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

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ACORN
Basic facts
Founder(s):	Wade Rathke
Year founded:	1970

ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, was a community-based advocacy organization founded in 1970. ACORN conducted large-scale voter registration drives. In October 2008, the organization said that it had registered over 1.3 million new voters in 21 states in 2007 and 2008.

In April 2011, ACORN filed for termination with the Federal Election Commission because the controlling entity of ACORN filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in November 2010.

Defenses of ACORN

Criticisms of ACORN

Voter registration fraud

Structure

ACORN was founded by Wade Rathke, an activist on issues of labor unions and low-income workers, and Gary Delgado, an activist on issues of race and social justice. It had national headquarters in New York, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. The organization described itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social justice organization. In 2003, ACORN opened operations in 20 new cities, including five state capitals. The group claimed about 350,000 members across the country. In 2008, ACORN said it had 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities and operations in Canada, Mexico, and Peru.

Funding

Government grants

According to an October 8, 2008, article in The New York Post, 40 percent of ACORN's operations were funded through grants it received from various governmental entities. Grants were issued to ACORN by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which gave $8.2 million to ACORN in the years between 2003 and 2006, as well as $1.6 million to ACORN affiliates. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave a $100,000 grant to ACORN in 2004 for a Louisiana Justice Project that removed lead from the homes of low-income families. The Justice Department also gave a grant to ACORN in 2005 for a juvenile delinquency program.

Organized labor

According to Department of Labor statistics, ACORN received approximately $4 million from the Service Employees International Union and its local affiliates between 2006 and 2007. According to an NPR report, ACORN received funding from the Change to Win labor federation, the Food and Commercial Workers Union, and the United Federation of Teachers during that same period.

Private foundations

ACORN received funding from a variety of private charitable organizations, including the Bauman Family Foundation, George Soros' Open Society Institute, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

ACORN and its affiliates also received funding from corporate foundations, including the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Ben and Jerry's Foundation, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and Citigroup. It also received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and foundations affiliated with the founder of United Parcel Service (UPS).

Political focus

In its political organizing, ACORN focused on what it viewed as protecting of the needs and rights of low- and moderate-income people. ACORN's priorities included better housing and wages for the poor, more community development investment from banks and governments, and better public schools. According to ACORN's website, the group pursued these goals through demonstration, negotiation, legislation, and voter participation.

Associated organizations

Citizen Services

Citizen Services Inc. (CSI), described in a 2006 ACORN publication as "ACORN's campaign services entity," was formed in 2004 to "assist persons and organizations who advance the interests of low- and moderate-income people," according to paperwork filed in Louisiana. CSI was hired at the start of the 2008 election season by the Barack Obama presidential campaign to conduct "polling, advance work, and staging major events." It was later discovered that the organization also engaged in get out the vote efforts. The Obama campaign subsequently had to amend FEC filings that listed CSI's work as only the former.

The RNC said, "Barack Obama's failure to accurately report his campaign's financial records is an incredibly suspicious situation that appears to be an attempt to hide his campaign's interaction with a left-wing organization previously convicted of voter fraud." The Obama campaign responded, saying, "When we saw that our FEC report didn't accurately reflect the field work CSI was hired to perform we corrected it."

Project Vote

Project Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1982. Project Vote conducted voter registration drives in partnership with ACORN ahead of the 2008 election. A Project Vote press release stated that the groups helped 1.3 million Americans register ahead of that election. Project Vote coordinated voter registration campaigns with ACORN prior to 2008 and partnered with ACORN on several lawsuits.

According to Project Vote's official website, the group provided "professional training, management, evaluation and technical services on a broad continuum of key issues related to voter engagement and participation in low-income and minority communities." It primarily focused on encouraging participation in the democratic process from "all sectors of society, and works hard to engage low-income and minority voters in the civic process."

According to its website, Project Vote had three program areas: the Voter Participation Program, which registered and educated low-income and minority voters through face-to-face contact with community organizers; the Election Administration Program, which documented vote problems; and the NVRA Implementation Project, which "[developed best practices, investigates compliance and offers technical assistance" in relation to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Noteworthy events

Allegations of fraud (2007-2008)

ACORN faced allegations of vote fraud related to voter registration drives conducted by the organization. ACORN conducted large-scale voter registration drives, and the organization said it helped register more than 1.3 million new voters in 21 states in 2007 and 2008.

On September 11, 2009, in reaction to these allegations, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it was severing its ties with ACORN. It had intended to partner with ACORN to conduct the 2010 census.

For more information, see this article.

CFO embezzles $948,000 from ACORN (2000)

In July 2008, The New York Times reported that Dale Rathke, ACORN's chief financial officer and brother of co-founder and chief organizer Wade Rathke, had embezzled $948,000 from the group as of 2000. Further investigation indicated that ACORN executives, including Wade Rathke, opted to sign a restitution agreement and have Dale Rathke pay back the money in annual increments of $30,000, rather than inform the police, government authorities, or the board members of the infraction. ACORN national president Maude Hurd and Wade Rathke explained their conduct as being based in concern for the organization as a whole, not, according to Rathke, to protect his brother. Both Wade and Dale Rathke resigned their positions at ACORN soon after the story broke.

External links

• ACORN's website