American Center for Voting Rights

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The American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) / American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund (ACVR Legislative Fund) was "the only 'Voting Rights' group called to testify before congressional hearings held by the now-disgraced Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) on what went wrong in Ohio's 2004 Presidential Election." [1]

The ACVR, founded in February 2005 [2], established its website on March 17, 2005[3], and was scheduled to testify on March 21, 2005, in Columbus, OH, at the U.S. House Committee on House Administration "hearing on the mess otherwise known as the 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio." [4]

Among the credentials for ACVR's director, Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, who was scheduled to testify as a witness at the hearing, is the fact that Hearne, a former Reagan Administration official, was "National Election Counsel" for Bush-Cheney '04 Inc. and Missouri counsel to Bush-Cheney, as well as "other very Republican credentials." [5]

ACVR states on its website that it is a non-partisan, non-profit organization "that neither supports nor endorses any political party or candidate."

Mission

According to its website, the Fund was "founded in on the belief that public confidence in our electoral system is the cornerstone of our democracy. The organization was established to further the common good and general welfare of citizens of the United States of America by educating the public about the importance our election process and to support efforts to increase public participation in elections and increase public confidence in our election process. ACVR Legislative Fund supports election reform that protects the right of all citizens to participate in the election process free of intimidation, discrimination or harassment and which will make it easy to vote but tough to cheat. ACVR Legislative Fund supports election reforms such as those proposed by the bi-partisan Carter-Baker Commission." [6]

Personnel

Biographical links for the following can be found archived here:

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission's "Registered Principal Report" dated January 31, 2007, James R. Moody is ACVR's principal lobbyist. [7]

Domain Name & Website

According to the WHOIS history for AC4VR.COM, the domain name was registered March 17, 2005, by American Center For Voting Rights, 13807 Beechwood Point Drive, Midlothian, VA 23112. Elizabeth Kingsley is listed as the registrant and administrative contact.

Fundraising Status

"The Legislative Fund is a Virginia nonstock corporation that is operating within the meaning of section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its purpose is to further the common good and general welfare of the citizens of the United States of America by educating the public about voter fraud, intimidation, and discrimination, which impacts the constitutional right of all citizens to participate in the electoral process. In furtherance of its mission, the Legislative Fund is permitted to engage in activity to influence legislation, which includes lobbying and grassroots lobbying activity. Consequently, contributions or gifts to the Legislative Fund are not tax-deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes," its website states. [8]

Fundraising: Swift Boat Connection

The web address for the Fund's donation page is that for DonationReport.com, plus an extension code for the Fund.

The connection for the DonationReport.com website arrives at a Login page—requiring both a User ID and Password—which belongs to eDonation.com, a member of The Donatelli Group, a fundraising company that has raised campaign funds for the Republican National Committee, Republican National Convention, Bush-Cheney '04 Inc., John McCain, the NRA [9], and an exhaustive list of Republican members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as other political organizations. [10]

The Donatelli Group, using its "primary segment" Campaign Solutions [11], is associated with Creative Response Concepts, the public relations firm that advised Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the "organization that accused Kerry of inflating his Vietnam War record" during the 2004 presidential campaign. [12]

The Donatelli Group, which produced the RNC website [13], also created the SWIFTBOATVETSFORTRUTH.ORG website July 30, 2004, with Connell Donatelli Inc. (a.k.a. The Donatelli Group) as Registrant. Connell Donatelli Inc. was also listed as both Administrator and the Tech Organization for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth website. [14]

Contact information

13807 Beechwood Point Road
Midlothian, VA 23112

Website: http://www.ac4vr.com/app/default.asp

Note: The website was last active on May 28, 2007. However, an archived version can be accessed here.

Website: http://www.AmericanCenterForVotingRights.com

Note: The link redirects to http://truthaboutfraud.org/ at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.

Resources and articles

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2005
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2007
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