In general, the levels of excitement in ACORN neighborhoods are very high and there are stories of persistence in the face of barriers like poorly-trained poll workers, long lines, and bureaucratic snafus.

We've arranged these stories by state and city and we feel that give a good on-the-ground sense of how people are reacting on this historic Election Day.

Florida - Orlando
Orlando ACORN has close to 200 canvassers hitting 25,000 doors split between African-American communities in western Orange County and Latino neighborhoods in eastern and southern Orange County. Contact Stephanie Porta at sporta@acornmail.net or 407-592-4784

Florida - Orlando - Personal Story
Mary Lynn Plotkin is a story of persistence. Excited about participating in this historic election she showed up at her polling place at 6:30 AM, only to be turned away by a poorly-trained poll worker because "there was no place to park". She works 20 miles away from her polling place, so she went to work, complained to the Bureau of Elections, and then four hours later, went back to the polling place. In a reassuring turn of events, the poll workers actually apologized to her about being turned away. She waited with about 50 other people and it took her about 30 minutes to vote.

Indiana - Indianapolis
ACORN Leader Mary Sears has taken 120 people to the polls so far and has never seen anything like this in the 41 years she has been voting. She is particularly seeing young and minority voters, and lines are one to two hours but seem to be moving with no major problems. Everyone seems to be excited! Contact: Jeff Ordower at moacorn@acorn.org or (314) 531-9634

New Mexico - Statewide
New Mexico ACORN is knocking on 10,000 doors today in three counties with 165 canvassers. New and infrequent voters in Dona Ana (Las Cruces), Bernalillo (Albuquerque) and Valencia (Santa Fe) will be getting visits from ACORN today. Early voting in Albuquerque was well over 50% of the total turnout for 2004.
Contact Matthew Henderson for more information - nmacorn@acorn.org - 505-379-6947

Pennsylvania - North Philly
There was a sense of excitement and taking part in an historic event here in North Philadelphia. People are taking pictures of their friends and family in front of the "Vote Here" signs, and of the long lines. On woman was spontaneously yelling lines from MLK's "Mountain Top" speech from 1968 in Memphis at the top of her lungs. Lines were down the entire city block.
Contact Ali Kronley at paacorn@acorn.org or 267-408-5582

Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
At the Temple Baptist Church on Race St. in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh (an ACORN neighborhood) voting machines broke down for a little over an hour. With lines heading out the door, no paper ballots were available to be handed out. Most people waited, but a number chose to leave. Many of the people in line voiced anger and frustration but tried to be patient. They finally got the machines working but it is unclear if paper ballots were ever delivered. For more info contact MaryEllen Hayden at paacornpiho@acorn.org

UPDATE 1:45 EST
Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
Ms. Lillian Allen is a 100 year-old woman from Pittsburgh. She has been an ACORN member for 15 years. She originally got involved because she could see the good the organization was doing in the community. Not only did she vote for President today, but she went door-knocking. Ms. Allen said, "If I can help, I want to." Most of her neighbors have already voted, which thrilled her. Ms. Allen said it's a privilege to vote in this election. She said it took a long time to get the right to vote. "When I got a chance to vote, I voted!"

Update: 2:15 EST
Missouri - St. Louis
Laderic is a first time voter in North County St. Louis. He finally decided to register to vote because he was concerned about the economy and the foreclosure crisis. The zip code he lives in (63136) is one of the leading areas of foreclosure in the country. He waited in line for a half hour to vote. He wasn't originally on the list but they eventually were able to find his name on a computer and he voted by paper ballot. Laderic says he plans to vote in every election in future because he knows he can make a difference. Contact Julie Terbrok at 314-660-3843.

Missouri - St. Louis - Story of Persistence
The lines at the Velda Village City Hall polling place in North St. Louis County are running 4+ hours. Brad Bilyeu has been standing in line for hours with his pregnant wife and young child. He still can barely even see the building and is not 100% sure he will be able to vote. Mr. Bilyeu sent his Voter Registration Card in 2 days before the deadline. The Board of Elections said they didn't get the application and that he had to reapply. He went down to the office to fill out the paper work again. He called yesterday (Nov. 3rd) to double check that he was registered and was told he is not on the roles. No one of authority would talk to him, they told him they were too busy to deal with his problem. He decided to show up anyway and wait in line with the rest of the voters. Contact Julie Terbrok at 314-660-3843.

Update: 3:00 EST
Ohio - Cincinnati
Cincinnati ACORN has 80 canvassers knocking on doors targeting 40,000, new and infrequent AA voters in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The canvassers include an ACORN member from Louisville, KY, who wanted to make an impact in a closely contested state.

Ohio - Cincinnati
This is a great example of how voter contact can create voters. Cincinnati Head Organizer Amy Teieleman was at a grocery store picking up supplies for her canvassers when she was engaged in conversation by a woman named Jennifer Daniel, who was very excited to vote. It turned out that she wasn't going to vote because she had lost her ID, but she "got this red and white flyer on my door this morning. Normally I throw those things out, but this one I read and it said that I could bring a check stub instead of photo ID, so that's why I'm here, to pick up a check stub. Then I'm going to vote." Turns out that "red and white flyer" was an ACORN doorhanger left at her house in the Evanston neighborhood of Cincinnati. Without ACORN's voter education program, that voter never would have existed.
Contact Amy Teitelman, ohacornciro@acorn.org, 513-257-9813

Update: 4:00 EST
Florida - Orlando - Personal Story
ACORN members Leroy Bell has been out watching voting at two polls in the Apopka neighborhood of western Orange County in Florida. Echoing sentiments from ACORN members across the country he said that he's "never seen anything like this in my lifetime. People are taking pictures of themselves next to the signs, they are bringing their babies to have their pictures taken, everyone is saying how they want to tell them 'You were there.'" Mr. Bell also made the connection between this election and what happens next. "As an ACORN member this is a great thing, once a community gets together for something as big as this it's going to be hard to stop them from doing something for their ownself. People are getting excited, but whoever wins needs to held accountable."

Ohio - Cincinnati - Story of Persistence
A 94 year old woman had to go to 3 different polling places because her polling place changed. The poll workers at the 2nd place were able to successfully assist her in locating the correct place. She was in a wheelchair and accompanied by her caretaker. She was said she was upset and tired but not going to give up. "I'm going to vote." she said. "I'm not going to miss this one."

In general, the levels of excitement in ACORN neighborhoods are very high and there are stories of persistence in the face of barriers like poorly-trained poll workers, long lines, and bureaucratic snafus.

We've arranged these stories by state and city and we feel that give a good on-the-ground sense of how people are reacting on this historic Election Day.

Florida - Orlando
Orlando ACORN has close to 200 canvassers hitting 25,000 doors split between African-American communities in western Orange County and Latino neighborhoods in eastern and southern Orange County. Contact Stephanie Porta at sporta@acornmail.net or 407-592-4784

Florida - Orlando - Personal Story
Mary Lynn Plotkin is a story of persistence. Excited about participating in this historic election she showed up at her polling place at 6:30 AM, only to be turned away by a poorly-trained poll worker because "there was no place to park". She works 20 miles away from her polling place, so she went to work, complained to the Bureau of Elections, and then four hours later, went back to the polling place. In a reassuring turn of events, the poll workers actually apologized to her about being turned away. She waited with about 50 other people and it took her about 30 minutes to vote.

Indiana - Indianapolis
ACORN Leader Mary Sears has taken 120 people to the polls so far and has never seen anything like this in the 41 years she has been voting. She is particularly seeing young and minority voters, and lines are one to two hours but seem to be moving with no major problems. Everyone seems to be excited! Contact: Jeff Ordower at moacorn@acorn.org or (314) 531-9634

New Mexico - Statewide
New Mexico ACORN is knocking on 10,000 doors today in three counties with 165 canvassers. New and infrequent voters in Dona Ana (Las Cruces), Bernalillo (Albuquerque) and Valencia (Santa Fe) will be getting visits from ACORN today. Early voting in Albuquerque was well over 50% of the total turnout for 2004.
Contact Matthew Henderson for more information - nmacorn@acorn.org - 505-379-6947

Pennsylvania - North Philly
There was a sense of excitement and taking part in an historic event here in North Philadelphia. People are taking pictures of their friends and family in front of the "Vote Here" signs, and of the long lines. On woman was spontaneously yelling lines from MLK's "Mountain Top" speech from 1968 in Memphis at the top of her lungs. Lines were down the entire city block.
Contact Ali Kronley at paacorn@acorn.org or 267-408-5582

Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
At the Temple Baptist Church on Race St. in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh (an ACORN neighborhood) voting machines broke down for a little over an hour. With lines heading out the door, no paper ballots were available to be handed out. Most people waited, but a number chose to leave. Many of the people in line voiced anger and frustration but tried to be patient. They finally got the machines working but it is unclear if paper ballots were ever delivered. For more info contact MaryEllen Hayden at paacornpiho@acorn.org

UPDATE 1:45 EST
Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
Ms. Lillian Allen is a 100 year-old woman from Pittsburgh. She has been an ACORN member for 15 years. She originally got involved because she could see the good the organization was doing in the community. Not only did she vote for President today, but she went door-knocking. Ms. Allen said, "If I can help, I want to." Most of her neighbors have already voted, which thrilled her. Ms. Allen said it's a privilege to vote in this election. She said it took a long time to get the right to vote. "When I got a chance to vote, I voted!"

<a href="http://s489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/als02/?action=view&current=LllianAllen-eday003.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/als02/LllianAllen-eday003.jpg" height=400 border="0" alt="100-year-old Lillian Allen goes to cast her vote in Pittsburgh"></a>

Update: 2:15 EST
Missouri - St. Louis
Laderic is a first time voter in North County St. Louis. He finally decided to register to vote because he was concerned about the economy and the foreclosure crisis. The zip code he lives in (63136) is one of the leading areas of foreclosure in the country. He waited in line for a half hour to vote. He wasn't originally on the list but they eventually were able to find his name on a computer and he voted by paper ballot. Laderic says he plans to vote in every election in future because he knows he can make a difference. Contact Julie Terbrok at 314-660-3843.

Missouri - St. Louis - Story of Persistence
The lines at the Velda Village City Hall polling place in North St. Louis County are running 4+ hours. Brad Bilyeu has been standing in line for hours with his pregnant wife and young child. He still can barely even see the building and is not 100% sure he will be able to vote. Mr. Bilyeu sent his Voter Registration Card in 2 days before the deadline. The Board of Elections said they didn't get the application and that he had to reapply. He went down to the office to fill out the paper work again. He called yesterday (Nov. 3rd) to double check that he was registered and was told he is not on the roles. No one of authority would talk to him, they told him they were too busy to deal with his problem. He decided to show up anyway and wait in line with the rest of the voters. Contact Julie Terbrok at 314-660-3843.

Update: 3:00 EST
Ohio - Cincinnati
Cincinnati ACORN has 80 canvassers knocking on doors targeting 40,000, new and infrequent AA voters in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The canvassers include an ACORN member from Louisville, KY, who wanted to make an impact in a closely contested state.

Ohio - Cincinnati
This is a great example of how voter contact can create voters. Cincinnati Head Organizer Amy Teieleman was at a grocery store picking up supplies for her canvassers when she was engaged in conversation by a woman named Jennifer Daniel, who was very excited to vote. It turned out that she wasn't going to vote because she had lost her ID, but she "got this red and white flyer on my door this morning. Normally I throw those things out, but this one I read and it said that I could bring a check stub instead of photo ID, so that's why I'm here, to pick up a check stub. Then I'm going to vote." Turns out that "red and white flyer" was an ACORN doorhanger left at her house in the Evanston neighborhood of Cincinnati. Without ACORN's voter education program, that voter never would have existed.
Contact Amy Teitelman, ohacornciro@acorn.org, 513-257-9813

Update: 4:00 EST
Florida - Orlando - Personal Story
ACORN members Leroy Bell has been out watching voting at two polls in the Apopka neighborhood of western Orange County in Florida. Echoing sentiments from ACORN members across the country he said that he's "never seen anything like this in my lifetime. People are taking pictures of themselves next to the signs, they are bringing their babies to have their pictures taken, everyone is saying how they want to tell them 'You were there.'" Mr. Bell also made the connection between this election and what happens next. "As an ACORN member this is a great thing, once a community gets together for something as big as this it's going to be hard to stop them from doing something for their ownself. People are getting excited, but whoever wins needs to held accountable."

Ohio - Cincinnati - Story of Persistence
A 94 year old woman had to go to 3 different polling places because her polling place changed. The poll workers at the 2nd place were able to successfully assist her in locating the correct place. She was in a wheelchair and accompanied by her caretaker. She was said she was upset and tired but not going to give up. "I'm going to vote." she said. "I'm not going to miss this one."

With about a day to go before America has a new President, ACORN is making substantial progress at beating back the attacks by Senator McCain and the GOP. There were significant setbacks for the GOP in New Mexico and Pennsylvania, as cries of "voter fraud" appeared to be more like cries of "wolf."

New Mexico was the GOP's most-likely chance to prove that voter fraud exists, but it backfired as even RNC General Counsel Sean Cairncross concedes that he can't identify a single case of improper votes that have been cast as a result of the type of voter registration fraud the GOP is alleging. State GOP interests accused 28 voters of having voting fraudulently in the June 8th NM primary, releasing the names of 10 voters to the media. ACORN contacted these voters, and verified with the Bernalillo County Board of Elections that they were valid voters. In response, Pat Rogers, an Albuquerque GOP attorney, involved in pushing David Iglesias to investigate ACORN in 2006 (one of the causes of US Attorneygate), hired private investigator Al Romero to visit and intimidate said voters. Two suits, one state, one federal were filed against these actions. The GOP tried to prove voter fraud but instead smeared themselves, as they intimidated Hispanic and African-Americans who were alive, well, and valid voters. Oops. Now, they are the target of a lawsuit.

Last week in Pennsylvania, the state GOP accused ACORN of voter fraud and the sued ACORN and the PA Secretary of State. This same lawsuit also asked that ACORN be required to turn the lists of newly registered voters over to the GOP (in order to challenge those voters at the polls and force them to vote with provisional ballots) and that ACORN be barred from contacting anyone on that list, including to remind them to vote or to bring ID to the polls. On Thursday, a state judge ruled against the GOP, citing the fact that they "failed to persuade the Court." Sounds like the GOP is losing at their own game.

This proves what we (and our allies) have been saying all along--that voter fraud is not a threat and that it does not really even exist. It's a scare tactic being used by conservative media like FOX News to set the stage for claiming Obama and ACORN "stole the election." Today, there is an article titled Government on High Alert for Voter Fraud on foxnews.com, but when you read the article, there is no mention of voter fraud at all until the very last line. It mentions Madison County, Indiana (but it's actually Madison County, MO) has had voter fraud in the past, but gives no documentation about what happened or when. Sounds a lot like New Mexico to us. In coming days, we can expect a lot more of that where this came from.

With a historic Election Day coming tomorrow, it is clear that the McCain-Palin campaign's ACORN-voter fraud endgame is to use their relentless attacks as a justification for a possible wave of legal challenges to close election results in key states.

Over the weekend, McCain-Palin campaign manager Rick Davis made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows claiming that polls showed McCain "structurally tied" in New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. Never mind that, as SilentPatriot at Crooks and Liars points out,

In Nevada, Obama leads in the last eight polls, with a margin between 4 and 12 points. In Colorado, excluding John Zogby's garbage internet polls, Obama has lead in every single poll taken since the end of September. The most recent PPP poll has him up a staggering 10 points. And in New Mexico, Obama leads in every poll since the second week in September. The last four polls average out to a 10.5 Obama lead.

Campaigns historically make claims of victory on the closing weekend before an election, but the McCain-Palin campaign and the RNC have been engaged in 6 weeks of smears and attacks on ACORN's record-breaking voter registration work, all part of a coordinated effort to cast doubt on the integrity of the election.

As Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights told the New York Times on October 26th, "There is a real concern that the courts will be asked once again to weigh in on tight races where the losing party may seek to raise real questions about the legitimacy of the vote...You can't help but conclude that this is an effort to lay a foundation for a subsequent challenge to an Obama victory, should it occur."

Just last week, the Washington Independent reported that "[e]ven when the challenges fail, Republican officials persist in their claims of voter fraud in what appears to be an effort to lay the groundwork for challenging the outcome of Election Day."

But even Ronald Michaelson, member of the McCain-Palin "Honest and Open Election Committee" admitted over the weekend to Politico, "'Do we have a documented instance of voting fraud that resulted from a phony registration form? No.'" In other words, these attacks are a prelude to a concerted effort by conservatives, the GOP, and the McCain-Palin campaign to manufacture an "election integrity" crisis and use that pretense for a possible all-out fight to contest the outcome of tomorrow's results.

We are on the cusp of history and we owe it to ourselves and the people who came before us to ensure that this election reflects the will of the people. ACORN is already deeply engaged in Get Out The Vote (GOTV) work across the country and will be making a final all-out push tomorrow. We will be knocking on doors and calling voters on the phone, reminding them to vote tomorrow and bring ID. We will also be checking back to make sure they had no problems at the polls. We will also be sharing the information below, making sure that people know what to do if they are challenged on election day. All told we will be personally contacting over 500,000 voters.

Election protection resources and information for Election Day can be found in several places, including 1-866-OUR-VOTE, the
Election Protection, and Velvet Revolution's Election Protection Strike Force.