"Make every vote count"was a rallying cry heard across the country leading up to, and following, the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004.

As the presidential election of 2008 approaches, the new slogan should be, "Make sure every voter registration is verified."

The need for the new slogan comes from growing evidence of voter registration fraud coming from many parts of the country.

Some of the news reports would be funny, if they weren't so serious.

The most recent story involves Nevada election officials raiding the office of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), after new voter registration forms from ACORNwere turned in featuring the names of most of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

In Marion County, Ind., where ACORN was involved in a voter-registration drive, there are now reportedly more registered voters than legal residents.

In Lake County, Ind., the county board of elections is scrutinizing all voter registration applications submitted by ACORN after the discovery of applications featuring names of dead people, or, suspicious names such as Jimmy Johns, the name of a sub sandwich franchise.

Amused sub shop workers at the local Jimmy Johns location told a CNN reporter who was tracking the suspicious voter registration card that there was no Jimmy Johns living in the sandwich shop.

In Missouri, a battleground state for the 2008 election, election officials in the Kansas City area are said to be overwhelmed with questionable and duplicate voter registration forms. The bogus registration forms are again coming from ACORN, and Charlene Davis, co-director of the county election board, said, "We have identified about 100 duplicates, and probably 280 addresses that don't exist, people who have driver's licenses that won't verify, or Social Security numbers that won't verify."

There have been complaints of voter fraud associated with ACORN's efforts in a dozen or so states, including Wisconsin, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina.

In Missouri, an ACORN registration effort found one woman registering 10 times, using three different birthdates, four different Social Security numbers and six different phone numbers.

Even in the Pittsburgh area, there are reports linking ACORN to bogus voter registrations. Pittsburgh newspapers reported last week that in response to the suspect voter registration activities, District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. and police are reviewing voter forms.

In any election, evidence of voter registration fraud would be newsworthy. But in this election, there is added controversy because of connections between Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and ACORN, and the fact that ACORN's registration efforts overwhelmingly favor Democrats.

But Obama should certainly support all efforts to verify voter registration forms. After all, Obama won his race for the Illinois Senate in 1996 by challenging the nomination petitions of his four challengers, including the incumbent. His aggressive challenge of the other candidates' nomination petitions was successful, resulting in the removal of all four competitors from the ballot.

It's been noted that Obama learned hardball politics in Chicago, and his challenge of his opponents' nominating petitions meant he ran unopposed. One commentator suggested that Obama "entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it."

For his part, Obama said the challenge tactics were justified "by obvious flaws in his opponents' signature sheets." Obama continued, "To my mind, we were just abiding by the rules that had been set up."

The same should certainly be said about voter registration cards. The troubling history of ACORN's registration efforts, coupled with recent reports of obvious fraud, should have election officials across the country carefully scrutinizing all new voter registration forms. News reports of widespread voter registration fraud also should redouble verification efforts at polling places to ensure that voters casting ballots are who they say they are — legal and legitimate voters.

After all, as Obama pointed out after challenging nomination petitions of his competitors, following the rules matters.

— J.L.W.III