American Center for Voting Rights

ACVR's officers included:

• Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, founder and general counsel. Former vice president and director of election operations for the Republican National Lawyers Association. Served as national election counsel to George W. Bush's 2004 campaign and Missouri counsel to his 2000 campaign. Founded ACVR with encouragement from Karl Rove and the White House.

{{cite news|first=Murray |last=Waas |title=The Scales Of Justice |date=May 31, 2007 |publisher=National Journal Group |url=http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/070531nj1.htm |work=National Journal |access-date=May 31, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604164859/http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/070531nj1.htm |archive-date=June 4, 2007 |url-status=dead }}

Helped Missouri Senator Delbert Lee Scott draft Missouri's voter ID law,{{cite news |url=http://www.lawyersusaonline.com/reprints/grg29.htm |title=Voter ID decision denounced as "activist" |date=October 23, 2006 |journal=Lawyers Weekly |author=Scott Lauck |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213031753/http://www.lawyersusaonline.com/reprints/grg29.htm |archive-date=February 13, 2007}} which was later ruled unconstitutional.{{cite news |url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/09/missouri-judge-rules-voter-id-law.php |title=Missouri judge rules voter ID law unconstitutional |date=September 14, 2006 |journal=Jurist |author=Natalie Hrubos |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508114255/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/09/missouri-judge-rules-voter-id-law.php |archive-date=May 8, 2009 }}

• Robin DeJarnette, executive director. Founder and executive director of the Virginia Conservative Action PAC.{{cite web

|url=http://vcap.org/OurPeople.php

|title=VCAP: "Our People"

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080112171825/http://vcap.org/OurPeople.php |archive-date =January 12, 2008}}

• Brian Lunde, chairman. A former executive director of the Democratic National Committee who ran Democrats for Bush in 2004.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ac4vr.com/app/content.asp?ContentId=676

|title=Brian Lunde's bio from ac4vr.org

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206042554/http://www.ac4vr.com/app/content.asp?ContentId=676

|archive-date=December 6, 2006

}}

• Alex Vogel, a former Republican National Committee lawyer whose consulting firm was paid $75,000 for several months' service by Vogel as the center's Executive Director.Greg Gordon, [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/17532.html "Was campaigning against voter fraud a Republican ploy?"], McClatchy Newspapers, July 1, 2007 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703211920/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/17532.html |date=July 3, 2007 }}
• Pat Rogers, board member. An attorney from New Mexico who had handled Federal civil rights cases,{{cite web

|url = http://gop.cha.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=946

|title = Committee on House Administration: Testimony By Mr. Patrick Rogers

|date = June 22, 2006

|access-date = May 23, 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070530193926/http://gop.cha.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=946

|archive-date = May 30, 2007

|url-status = dead

|df = mdy-all

}} he pushed Justice Department officials to fire U.S. Attorney David Iglesias for inattention to voter fraud.{{cite news

|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/18/AR2007031801077_pf.html

|title=Justice Dept. Recognized Prosecutor's Work on Election Fraud Before His Firing

|date=March 19, 2007

|newspaper=The Washington Post

|author=Amy Goldstein

|access-date=September 20, 2017

|archive-date=May 2, 2019

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502151328/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/18/AR2007031801077_pf.html

|url-status=live

}} This dismissal fell under scrutiny as part of a larger, allegedly improper pattern of political influence.

ACVR endorsed the September 2005 recommendations of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, which was co-chaired by former president Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.{{cite web

|url=http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/

|title=Commission on Federal Election Reform

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620141618/http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/

|archive-date=June 20, 2007

}}

Among its publications on the topic of voter fraud were "Democrat operatives far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression in 2004 than Republicans,"

{{cite web

|url=http://www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/default.html

|title=Democrat operatives far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression in 2004 than Republicans

|date=August 2, 2005

|publisher=American Center for Voting Rights

|author=Mark F. "Thor" Hearne and Brian A. Lunde

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050806013650/http://www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/default.html

|archive-date=August 6, 2005

}} "Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression - The 2004 Presidential Election,"{{cite web

|url=http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Vote_Fraud_Intimidation_Suppression_2004_Pres_Election_v2.pdf

|title=Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression - The 2004 Presidential Election

|date=July 21, 2005

|publisher=American Center for Voting Rights

|author=Mark F. "Thor" Hearne and Brian A. Lunde

|access-date=May 25, 2007

|archive-date=May 11, 2008

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511191828/http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Vote_Fraud_Intimidation_Suppression_2004_Pres_Election_v2.pdf

|url-status=live

}}

and "Ohio Election Activities and Observations."

{{cite web

|url=http://www.ac4vr.com/news/OhioElectionReport.pdf

|title=Ohio Election Activities and Observations

|date=March 21, 2005

|publisher=American Center for Voting Rights

|author=Mark F. "Thor" Hearne

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050425104337/http://www.ac4vr.com/news/OhioElectionReport.pdf

|archive-date=April 25, 2005

|display-authors=etal}}

On March 22, 2005, a few days after the organization was formed, ACVR officials were called to testify by Republican members of Congress before a House Administration Committee hearing held by Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH). Hearne was called as a witness to discuss election reform issues and the implementation of the federal Help America Vote Act during the 2004 Presidential election.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.ac4vr.com/news/testimony.html

|title=ACVR: Committee On Administration (Mark F. "Thor" Hearne testimony)

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324134715/http://www.ac4vr.com/news/testimony.html

|archive-date=March 24, 2005

}}

U.S. Senator Kit Bond (R-Missouri), who described the group as a non-partisan, voting rights advocacy group, testified and submitted the ACVR's report on 2004 election irregularities in Ohio, which documented, among other incidents, the registration of voters named "Mary Poppins", "Dick Tracy", and "Jive F. Turkey." According to court records in the criminal prosecution of Chad Staton in Defiance County, Ohio, individuals registering these fictional voters were paid money and in at least one instance, crack cocaine. The organization involved in this effort was called "Project Vote,"

{{cite web

|url=http://www.ac4vr.com/

|title=ACVR Refers Voter Fraud Investigation To Dept. of Justice, Congressional Oversight Panel

|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20050324102250/http://www.ac4vr.com/ |archive-date=March 24, 2005 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 24, 2016}}

and the fraud was perpetrated by a registrations volunteer.{{cite news

|url=http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041019/NEWS09/410190343

|title=Voter fraud case traced to Defiance County registrations volunteer

|date=October 19, 2004

|newspaper=Toledo Blade

|author=Joe Mahr

|access-date=May 23, 2007

|archive-date=September 14, 2007

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914174453/http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041019/NEWS09/410190343

|url-status=live

}}{{cite news

|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20041019-103123-7206r.htm

|title=Ohio aids probe of bogus voter registry forms

|date=October 19, 2004

|work=The Washington Times

|author=Joyce Howard Price

|access-date=May 23, 2007

|archive-date=March 20, 2006

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060320020628/http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041019-103123-7206r.htm

|url-status=live

}}

The ACVR was dissolved in May 2007, and the web pages ac4vr.com and AmericanCenterForVotingRights.com were taken down.

The dissolution of ACVR came several weeks after the Election Assistance Commission issued a report that said the pervasiveness of fraud was open to debate.{{cite news

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11voters.html?ex=1334030400&en=cba2ba0f1aeb218f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

|author=Ian Urbina

|title=Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud

|date=April 11, 2007

|work=The New York Times

|access-date=February 21, 2017

|archive-date=December 13, 2019

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213142107/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11voters.html?ex=1334030400&en=cba2ba0f1aeb218f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

|url-status=live

}}

"The DoJ devoted unprecedented resources to ferreting out polling-place fraud over five years and appears to have found not a single prosecutable case across the country," Slate reported.

Several states have adopted laws requiring voters to provide some form of government-issued identification before casting a ballot. The strictest of these requirements is the Indiana photo-ID requirement which was challenged by the Indiana Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union. This law was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.[http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/01/indiana-voter-photo-id-law-upheld-on.php JURIST - Paper Chase: Indiana voter photo ID law upheld on appeal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104074326/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/01/indiana-voter-photo-id-law-upheld-on.php |date=November 4, 2013 }}.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Arizona voter ID law against a similar challenge. Similar laws have been upheld by state courts in Pennsylvania, but struck down in Missouri and Georgia.[http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/georgiavoterIDruling.pdf Lake v Perdue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809015130/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/georgiavoterIDruling.pdf |date=August 9, 2007 }}, September 19, 2006.{{cite news |title=Georgia Law Requiring Voters to Show Photo ID Is Thrown Out: Judge Says Some Would Be Disenfranchised; State Plans Appeal |author=Darryl Fears |author2=Jonathan Weisman |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 20, 2006 |page=A06 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901382.html |access-date=September 20, 2017 |archive-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630195220/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901382.html |url-status=live }}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite web

|url=http://www.ac4vr.com

|title=Internet Archive Wayback Machine copy of www.ac4vr.com

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324102250/http://www.ac4vr.com/

|archive-date=March 24, 2005

}}

Category:Electoral fraud in the United States

Category:Front organizations

Category:Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

Category:Organizations established in 2005

Category:Organizations disestablished in 2007

Category:Defunct American websites

Category:501(c)(3) organizations

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Midlothian, Virginia

Category:2005 establishments in Virginia