Guest blogged by Ernest A. Canning

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has won a substantive victory on behalf of the voters of Ohio — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — via a court case filed in 2006, challenging a number of voter suppression tactics employed by the state’s then Sec. of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell (R).

The victory may lead to the enfranchisement of “hundreds of thousands of voting-eligible low-income Ohioans” according to one of the attorneys involved in the case, yet it looks like Fox “News”, Matt Drudge, and all of the other Rightwingers may have forgotten to post a thank you note to ACORN this week for their successful battle to strengthen the growth of democracy in the U.S….

In September 2006, ACORN filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that Blackwell and officials from Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS) had systematically violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), which Act, by its express terms, was intended to “increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office,” “protect the integrity of the electoral process,” and “ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained.”

Specifically, the lawsuit, Harkless v. Blackwell, which later became, Harkless v. Brunner, alleged Blackwell and officials from the DJFS violated Section 7 of the Act which mandates that state agencies which “provide public assistance” furnish voter registration forms, assist in their preparation and accept completed applications. Per the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal [PDF]:

The suit, initially dismissed by the District Court, was reinstated by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal on Oct. 28, 2008, following ACORN’s appeal. The Sixth Circuit decision was issued after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief [PDF] in which it agreed that the District Court decision was unsound.

On Monday, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, issued a press release in which it announced a settlement which their co-counsel, Lisa Danetz, estimates will lead to the registration of “hundreds of thousands of voting-eligible low-income Ohioans”.

The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights reported that as a result of the settlement, “the provision of voter registration services will be institutionalized within the office procedures at county DJFS offices, and both the SOS [Secretary of State] and ODJFS will make sure such services are provided.”

This will include…

There is an intriguing irony. Where the Right has gone out of its way to smear ACORN, it turns out that it was the government, under the control of a Republican Secretary of State, which had violated U.S. election law.* Where the District Court had based its dismissal, in part, on ACORN’s alleged lack of standing because ACORN was not allegedly damaged by Blackwell’s violations of federal election law, the Sixth Circuit noted that ACORN had suffered a loss because it was forced to expend funds on voter registration activities that it would not have expended had Blackwell and the DJFS complied with federal election laws; that ACORN’s Ohio members were directly injured by those violations.

Still waiting for DRUDGE or Fox “News” to splash the headline. But perhaps it would be unwise for me to hold my breath until they do.

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Ernest A. Canning has been an active member of the California state bar since 1977. Mr. Canning has received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science as well as a juris doctor. He is also a Vietnam vet (4th Infantry, Central Highlands 1968).