WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - May 28, 2009) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group
that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today
that it has obtained documents from the U.S. Census Bureau detailing the
substantial involvement of the Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now (ACORN) in the 2010 Census. Included among the 126 pages of
documents, obtained by Judicial Watch under threat of a Freedom of
Information Act lawsuit, is ACORN's original Census partnership
application. The document describes 18 different areas of responsibility
requested by the community organization, which is under investigation in
multiple states for illegal activity during the 2008 election, including
voter registration fraud.
The documents also list the types of organizations ineligible for
partnering with the U.S. Census. They include: "... Hate groups, Law
enforcement, anti-immigrant groups, any groups that might make people
fearful of participating in the Census..." The release of these Obama
Commerce Department documents comes in the wake of an Obama Department of
Homeland Security report released in April linking opposition to illegal
immigration to "rightwing extremist radicalization."
In its official statement responding to the ACORN controversy, the Obama
Commerce Department downplayed ACORN's participation in the Census, and
labeled "baseless" the notion that ACORN would be involved in any Census
count. However, the Census Bureau offered ACORN the opportunity to
"recruit Census workers" who would participate in the count. Moreover, as
an "executive level" partner, ACORN has the ability to "organize and/or
serve as a member on a Complete Count Committee," which, according to
Census documents, helps "develop and implement locally based outreach and
recruitment campaigns."
According to its application ACORN also signed up to: "Encourage employees
and constituents to complete and mail their questionnaire; identify job
candidates and/or distribute and display recruiting materials; appoint a
liaison to work with the Census Bureau; provide space for Be Counted sites
and/or Questionnaire Assistance Centers; sponsor community events to
promote participation in the 2010 Census," among 18 requested areas of
responsibility. The documents also show the decision to add ACORN as a
partner occurred in February, long after the January 15th Census
partnership application deadline. (One Census official had bet "it was
under Bush.")
Among other conclusions from the documents:
- The Census Bureau requested that ACORN "help us highlight [ACORN's]
innovation and hard work and share best practices so other organizations
can learn from your experiences."
- Members of the Census Bureau and Department of Commerce staff assigned
to organize the 2010 Census were unaware of when the decision to involve
ACORN was made, how the Census Bureau choose and defined partners, or
whether partners received payment.
- The Census Bureau did not conduct background checks on the 3.7 million
people hired to conduct the 2000 Census, unless a preliminary name check
provided a match. Overall, 8% of the applicants, or over 300,000 people,
were considered risks for hire.
According to the U.S. Census documents, among other things, census data is
used to allocate $300 billion in federal funds. Census data also
"determines how many seats each state will have in the House of
Representatives as well as the redistricting of state legislatures, county
and city councils, and voting districts."
"Given its history of illegal activity and fraud, ACORN should be nowhere
near the 2010 Census," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "And
shame on the Obama Commerce Department for continuing to demonize
conservatives by lumping together law enforcement and anti-immigration
groups with 'hate groups.' This discriminatory policy raises First
Amendment concerns. Indeed, these documents provide further evidence that
the Obama administration is politicizing the 2010 Census."
Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the
Census on March 23, 2009. After the Obama Commerce Department stonewalled,
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on May 14, 2009. The documents were
released to Judicial Watch on May 15, 2009.
Visit
www.JudicialWatch.org to read the ACORN/U.S. Census Documents.
Contact Information: Contact:
Jill Farrell
202-646-5188