New Mexico Republicans Smear Valid Voters with Fraud Charge

Incident Highlights Republican Suppression Efforts Masked by “Fraud” Campaign

ALBUQUERQUE - After the New Mexico Republican Party claimed Thursday that fraudulent voters—including some registered to vote by ACORN—participated in the June, 2008 Democratic primary, ACORN contacted some of the voters Republicans said were bogus. ACORN will present its findings Saturday morning at an 11:00 am press conference at ACORN’s New Mexico headquarters (411 Bellamah NW, Albuquerque).

The voters that the Republicans named in their press conference on Thursday were quickly reached by ACORN Thursday night. They include an 18-year old first-time voter and a new citizen. All provided evidence that they are legitimate voters, and their legitimacy was confirmed by the Bernalillo County Clerk. All confirmed that they voted in the June primary and expressed outrage that the Republican Party is targeting them.

“This is un-American,” said Celestina Balderas, an ACORN leader. “What we have learned today is that a new citizen who votes in America now risks getting attacked by the Republican Party. ACORN will not allow this scare off new, legitimate voters.”

“What these Republican operatives did is criminal,” said ACORN member Dana Gallegos. “They violated these voters' privacy, and they want to deprive them of their right to vote. These kinds of dirty tricks tear at the fabric of our democracy. We demand an apology from the Republican Party, and we demand that Senator McCain denounce these partisan scare tactics.”

ACORN confirmed with the Bernalillo County Clerk that the voters in question were all legitimate. They include:

l Dora Pargas Escobedo, a 67-year-old immigrant who became a naturalized, United States citizen this year, and;

l Brittany Nicole Rivera, an 18-year old Albuquerque resident.

ACORN registered 80,000 voters in New Mexico this year.

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ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 400,000 member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 103 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members, including better housing for first time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools. ACORN -- an acronym for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – should be used on first reference.)