[JURIST] The FBI is investigating allegations of voter registration fraud involving the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) [advocacy website] ahead of the November presidential election. According to senior law enforcement officials quoted by AP Thursday, the FBI is analyzing evidence gathered from recent raids of ACORN state headquarters [AP report] to determine whether there is a nationwide effort to commit systematic voter fraud. AP has more.

ACORN workers engaged in a nationwide voter registration drive [press release] enrolling more than 1.3 million new voters in 21 states have been accused of submitting fraudulent voter registration forms in several of those states. Earlier this month reports surfaced that a majority of the 5,000 registration forms submitted to board of elections officials by Acorn employees in Lake County, Indiana were false or fraudulent [Northwest Indiana Times report]. The registration forms submitted in the county included a Jimmy John's restaurant, members of the Dallas Cowboys, and several deceased persons. ACORN has vigorously denied [press release] the voter fraud allegations against it and says they are part of a politicized effort by Republicans to "create an unfounded specter of voter fraud and to suppress voting."