I know nothing about ACORN, other than there is a tree in my front yard with too many.

But having been a political reporter in Philly, I've heard something about how one might steal votes. Which is that it's pretty damn hard, and that vote fraud - ineligible voters or people voting more than once under fake names - is pretty much non-existent. The scare tactics being pitched by Sarah Palin and various other GOP political operatives are just that. This is from Politico:

"Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin suggested Tuesday that Barack Obama shares responsibility for recent reports of voter fraud conducted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

'Obama has a responsibility to rein in ACORN,' Palin said during an interview with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Palin said the group is responsible for the 'unconscionable situation we are facing now with voter fraud' and attacked the Obama campaign for not addressing the problem after the McCain campaign sent a letter to the Democratic camp urging action against voter fraud in September.' "

The complaint about ACORN is that its workers have submitted fake, erroneous or deliberately fraudulent voter registration forms. No doubt correct.

But it doesn't matter who files a registration form. It matters who enters the voting rolls.

They are the people who vote.

Local voter registration offices exist in large part to screen out the faulty, fake and duplicate voter registration forms that have been around as long as there has been voter registration. Nevertheless, alleging voter fraud is a favorite Republican tactic.

In recent years, rules for getting your hands on a ballot have actually stiffened.

Now, a first time registrant has to produce an ID before getting a ballot. And its supposed to be a photo ID or similar document. If your neighbor "Mickey Mouse" makes it through the local voter registrar's office, Mr. Mouse can only vote if he presents a valid ID, usually a drivers license, showing that he really is Mickey Mouse. If he's John Smith, no ballot, no vote.

These are the ID rules in Pennsylvania for a first time registrant:

All voters who appear at a polling place for the first time must show proof of identification. Approved forms of photo identification include:
Pennsylvania driver’s license or PennDOT ID card
ID issued by any Commonwealth agency
ID issued by the U.S. Government
U.S. passport
U.S. Armed Forces ID
Student ID
Employee ID

If you do not have a photo ID, you can use a non-photo identification that includes your name and address. Approved forms of non-photo identification include:
Confirmation issued by the County Voter Registration Office
Non-photo ID issued by the Commonwealth
Non-photo ID issued by the U.S. Government
Firearm permit
Current utility bill
Current bank statement
Current paycheck
Government check

And the poll workers for one party or the other can still challenge the voter.

Worried about Ohio?

Here's that state's rules:

All voters must bring identification to the polls in order to verify their identity. Identification may include a current and valid photo identification, military identification; or a copy of a current (within the last 12 months) utility bill (including cell phone bill), bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document, other than a notification mailed by the board of elections, that shows the voter’s name and current address (including from a public college or university). Voters who do not provide one of these documents at the polling place will still be able to vote a provisional ballot as described earlier in this guide, and may provide such identification to the board of elections within the 10 days following Election Day. Voters who do not have any of the above forms of identification, including a Social Security number, will still be able to vote by signing an affirmation statement swearing to the voter's identity under penalty of election falsification and by casting a provisional ballot. (Please click here for additional information on provisional voting.)

Massive voter fraud can really only work if the system itself is corrupt - as many believe was the case 48 years ago in Chicago, when the first Mayor Daley was suspected of concocting results to swing Illinois behind JFK.

A corrupt system can vote the dead or people moved away.  Poll workers could stuff ballots, vote people who haven't come to the polls, or maybe rig electronic vote counts.

But ineligible voters swinging an election? In 2006, four years after the Justice Department made election fraud a priority, this was the list of major prosecutions. It's from a press release entitled: Fact Sheet: Department of Justice Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative:

-In Alabama, a jury convicted the former sheriff of Jefferson County and his attorney of conspiracy to defraud the United States and theft of government property in connection with their use of records of the National Crime Information Center to conduct criminal history searches of absentee voters to support an election contest.

-In Florida, in the first jury convictions involving the new felony campaign financing crimes enacted by Congress in 2002, two defendants were convicted for making conduit contributions to curry favor with federal officials, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a land fraud scheme. The lead defendant was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and restitution of over $12 million.

-In Kansas, a congressional candidate pleaded guilty to bank fraud and embezzling campaign contributions and was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment.

-In New Hampshire, the former New England Regional Director of the Republican National Committee was convicted by a jury of telephone harassment charges in connection with a scheme to prevent voters from getting to the polls in the November 2002 federal elections by jamming phone lines of local organizations. He was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. Two additional defendants, including the former Executive Director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme, and a fourth defendant is currently under indictment and awaiting trial.

-In Kentucky, 12 persons were convicted of vote buying in recent federal elections, and eight more persons were indicted on vote buying charges last week.

-In West Virginia, 15 persons were convicted of vote buying in recent elections.

Nothing about fake people voting, is there?

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