LAS VEGAS - Lawyers for the political advocacy group ACORN and a former voter registration supervisor pleaded not guilty Tuesday to illegally paying canvassers to register Nevada voters during last year's presidential campaign.
Lisa Rasmussen, who is representing the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal counts of compensation for registration of voters. Amy Busefink, a former ACORN regional supervisor, pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of compensation for registration of voters.
A judge set an April 19 trial date in Clark County District Court, although Rasmussen said she'll ask the trial judge for a date in May due to a scheduling conflict.
Rasmussen and Busefink lawyer Kevin Stolworthy said they intend to challenge the constitutionality of the Nevada law under which the state attorney general brought the case. The law, passed in 1997, prohibits setting quotas and paying canvassers based on the number of voter registration applications they turn in. It was designed to prevent the submittal of false voter registration forms. Rasmussen said it has never before been used.
If that challenge fails, Stolworthy said, "at trial, we'll have a chance to present our witnesses. It won't just be what the government puts on."
If convicted, Busefink, a 27-year-old from Seminole, Fla., faces probation or less than one year in jail and the group faces a $5,000 fine.
A felony conviction, however, could cost ACORN its nonprofit status in Nevada, one of several states where the community organizer is fighting legal battles nationally.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace William Jansen ruled Sept. 30 that there was enough evidence to let a jury decide whether $5 bonuses paid to $8-per-hour canvassers who collected 21 voter registration forms or more per shift violated a state law banning payment for specific numbers of registrations.
A former ACORN supervisor who is now a state witness testified that supervisors knew he created the bonus plan dubbed "blackjack" or "21-plus" to encourage canvassers to find more unregistered voters during the crucial run-up to the November 2008 election.
Christopher Edwards, 33, was initially charged along with ACORN and Busefink, but pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and agreed to testify in return for a promise of probation, a fine and community service.
ACORN officials insist that registration drive administrators set goals, not quotas, and didn't necessarily punish canvassers who didn't meet them.
ACORN spokeswoman Clare Crawford issued a statement Tuesday accusing Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, both Democrats, of ignoring evidence of more serious voter registration fraud and stretching a never-before-used state law "beyond any reasonable reading" to prosecute ACORN and Busefink.
"ACORN has not violated election laws in Nevada," the statement said.
Prosecutor Conrad Hafen denied allegations of overreaching and selective prosecution.
"If we believe there's probable cause, we're going to file charges," he said.
Voter fraud was not alleged in what Miller characterized as registration fraud. The state's top election official insisted when charges were announced last May that no voters in Nevada were paid for votes and no unqualified voters cast ballots.
ACORN has drawn fire for the release of a videotape showing employees offering tax advice to two people posing as a prostitute and her pimp. Federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and corporations including Bank of America Corp. have in recent weeks distanced themselves from the organization.