RNC Smokescreen - Official: Registration issues won't affect vote

LAS VEGAS—Scores of fraudulent voter registrations being investigated by Nevada election officials will not jeopardize the integrity of the general election, state and local officials said Wednesday.

An ongoing investigation into the group responsible for collecting the registrations, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has not led investigators to believe anyone will try to vote illegally on Nov. 4, said Matt Griffin, Nevada's deputy secretary for elections.

"We're talking registration fraud—it's not voter fraud," Griffin said. "But we have a duty to follow up."

Investigators on Tuesday seized computer data and documents from the Las Vegas headquarters of the group, known as ACORN. Griffin said state officials were reviewing all registration forms submitted by ACORN in Nevada. The probe will determine whether the group, its canvassers or others are responsible for submitting hundreds of phony registrations that were either made up or duplicates of prior registrations, he said.

No one has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

ACORN acknowledges submitting some registrations known to be fraudulent, but said it separated those from others to signal they were suspicious.

Nevada election laws require groups that do bulk registrations to return all registration forms to public election officials, even if they know the information on them is no good.........