The community activist group that’s currently being investigated by the federal government for voter fraud does not have a presence in Maine, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Don Cookson, spokesman for Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, said the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, has not been registering voters in Maine. The closest ACORN offices are in Massachusetts, he said.

Cookson said legitimate get-out-the-vote drives are taking place, however.

“There are some very strong efforts under way to mobilize voters and get people involved in the process that perhaps haven’t been in years past,” Cookson said.

The latest tallies by the state, as of Sept. 8, show more than 900,000 Mainers registered. There are 299,664 Democrats, 253,469 Republicans, 25,676 Green Independents and 330,657 registered yet unenrolled voters, according to Cookson.

“If you look at the total number of registered voters right now, it’s substantially lower than it was in 2006 and for that matter, 2004,” Cookson said. In 2004, the last presidential election year, there were 1,023,956 registered voters in Maine.

Greens gather to pitch candidate

The Maine Green Independent Party is holding a news conference Tuesday, Oct. 21, at noon in Portland’s Monument Square to promote the Green presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney.

Lynne Williams, the state party chairwoman, will describe the Green party platform and argue the importance of giving voters an alternative to the Democratic and Republican political parties.

“In this time of economic turmoil, we need to look at alternatives,” Williams said in a release. “Both Democrats and Republicans got us into this mess . . . McKinney’s ideas and proposals deserve consideration by the voters who need to know that (Sens.) Obama and McCain are not the only choices.”

State legislative candidates from the Green party will also be present and plan to speak briefly at the event, which is free and open to the public.

-Rebekah Metzler

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