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ACORN Calls Raids 'A Stunt'

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There is new information on the accusations against  ACORN, a group that tries to get low income people to vote.

Now, more ACORN offices around the U.S. are under investigation after police raided their Las Vegas office.

ACORN representatives will tell you this is all politically motivated, because they register people who would tend to vote for democrats.

Election officials say they are also registering lots of people, who do not even exist.

Since investigators cleaned out their offices during a Tuesday morning raid, ACORN has been working to clean up its image and saying they were identifying registration fraud all along.

"They sat on those reports until yesterday (Tuesday). And basically pulled this stunt yesterday (Tuesday), acting as though we hadn't been talking to them for six months," said ACORN spokesman Matthew Henderson.

While the police raid in Las Vegas makes it by far the most visible, there are investigations into ACORN's practices in eight other states, one of them being Ohio.

ACORN workers told the Board of Elections in Ohio that they found several instances of their employees filing false documents.

The Board of Election agreed.

"There's a problem. What should this board do to solve that problem?" asked one board member.

ACORN is focusing its efforts mostly in battleground states, states like Missouri where there are 11 electoral votes at stake and where Bonita Peterson lives.

She got a card saying she registered to vote on September 10th of this year.

Peterson has been a registered voter since 1968.

"What is going through my mind is election fraud," Peterson said.

According to the search warrant served Tuesday, ACORN required its employees to get 20 new registrations per day. Anyone short of 20, might not get a paycheck.

Election Officials say that encourages fraud.

"It makes it hard for us to say to our canvassers that fraud will be taken seriously and will be prosecuted. If in fact we report fraud to the election authorities and they do not prosecute it," Henderson said.

Now, prosecuting it is exactly what Nevada authorities say they are doing.

It's important to note, ACORN is not just a voter registration effort.

They also lobby for community improvements like the Buy-Low grocery store in West Las Vegas.

It is a store that has been hailed as a vital addition to a challenged neighborhood.

Keep it tuned to Channel 13 Action News for the latest on this investigation.

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