By James Donahue

The first indication that something was amiss may have hit us when John McCain accused Barack Obama of ties with a voter enrollment scandal with a group called ACORN. But from all we could learn about that group, The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, it was actively enrolling poor, minority and underprivileged Americans so they will have a chance to vote. And while some paid workers have been caught turning in false names like Mickey Mouse, there appears to be little chance that this organization is attempting or capable of sabotaging the looming national election.

So what was the beef all about? We concluded that the Republicans would like to discredit the work of ACORN and try to keep most of the people signed up by the organization from visiting the polls next month.

The other reason may be a smokescreen for the real voter fraud being uncovered in various parts of the United States this fall. From what we can tell, the crooks that have been controlling the White House since Bush stole the election in 2000 and 2004 are at it again. Fortunately the Obama campaign group is already on top of this problem and actively trying to do something about it.

But the election process in the United States is so varied and complex, fraudulent activity appears to be occurring in a variety of ways and it may be hard, if not impossible to uncover all of it before the election on Nov. 4.

Election fraud in key “battleground” states like Florida and Ohio, began to be noticed in 2000 and 2004 after electronic computerized voting machines began replacing the slower but more reliable paper ballot system of voting. Companies that manufacture these voting machine claim they are fool-safe, yet early voters in at least two West Virginia counties have complained even this week of watching their votes for Barack Obama suddenly change before their eyes to John McCain. Even after reporting the problem, three voters in Jackson County told the Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for Obama “kept flipping” to John McCain.

In California, the Los Angeles Times has reported mass “slamming” of voters switched from Democrat to Republican registration after being told they were signing a petition for tougher penalties on child molesters. The switching was discovered after California Democrats noticed sudden and unexplained turnarounds in GOP registration in certain counties and obtained a list of the new registrations from the San Bernardino County registrar. They found that more than 75 percent of the telephone numbers were invalid, and of voters who could be reached, 80 percent said their registrations were switched to Republican without their knowledge.

Florida Congressman Robert Wexler said there is a silent battle raging all across the nation this fall as Republican election supervisors and other officers are going out of their way to stop what they fear will be a landslide victory by Democrat Barack Obama.

In a letter issued this week Wexler said:

“Most people associate the 2000 election with paper “chads” and the Supreme Court’s tragic decision (to give Bush the victory over Gore who many believe won that election.) Yet the voter suppression in 2000 went way beyond not counting votes – from illegal roadblocks near minority precincts to the complete purging of legitimate voters from the rolls through what is called ‘voter caging’ – the practice of using databases to improperly delete voters.

Similar behind-the-scenes ballot manipulating was suspected in 2004 when Bush narrowly defeated Democrat John Kerry. This time there were allegations of widespread voter suppression in Ohio. Bush won with a narrow margin of just 119,000 votes. There has been a nagging suspicion that Bush was never legitimately elected to either term.

The cheating appears to be starting all over again, Wexler says.

“Now, we are seeing signs of voter caging again in both Michigan and Florida,” he said. “In Michigan, the state is using a list of foreclosures to purge voters (many of which are still legitimate voters in their districts.)

“In Florida, my home state, the Republican led Supervisor of Elections is aggressively applying a new law designed to limit voter fraud by summarily deleting voters who might have – as part of a clerical error – a different driver’s license or social security number than was put in the database.

“If legitimate, legal voters are denied access to the voting booth – we risk a repeat of 2000 in multiple states,” Wexler warned.

Yet another trick used to discourage voters from showing up on election day has been misinformation.

For example, students in Virginia, Colorado and South Carolina were wrongfully told by voting officials that they could lost their scholarships and their parents would no longer be able to claim them as dependents on their income tax returns if they registered to vote in their college towns..

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights is conducting an advertising campaign to combat a misleading rumor started by local officials in mailings to voters – that people would be denied the right to vote if they lost their home to foreclosure, have a criminal record or do not have photo identification.