Forty-five percent (45%) of voters say the liberal activist group ACORN is trying to register voters illegally, but they’re divided over whether Barack Obama has ties to the group, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Only 25% think ACORN, under investigation in several states for possible voter registration fraud, is not trying to put illegal voters on the rolls.

Sixty-nine percent of Republicans and 21% of Democrats believe ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is trying to register people to vote multiple times in violation of election laws. Forty-one percent of Democrats and eight percent (8%) of GOP voters disagree. Unaffiliated voters by more than two-to-one view ACORN’s efforts as consciously illegal.

That’s why 42% of voters say it is more likely that people will vote illegally this Election Day than for legal voters to be denied their rights at the polls. But 32% say legal voters are more likely to be denied the right to vote.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republicans think illegal voting is more likely, while 51% of Democrats say legal voters are more likely to be denied the chance to cast their ballot. Unaffiliated voters lean toward the probability of illegal voting, 47% to 26%.

A plurality of white voters (45%) agree with the Republicans. Forty-two percent (42%) of African-Americans think legitimate voters are more likely to be denied the vote.

In a survey earlier this month, 76% of voters said a person should be required to show photo identification at the polls before being allowed to vote.

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On October 6, ACORN announced on its website “the conclusion of the most successful voter registration drive in history with more than 1.3 million new voters registered in 21 states in time for the 2008 presidential election.” The majority of new voters, the group said, are “young, African-American, Latino, and low-income Americans – groups which are all historically underrepresented in elections.”

Opponents say ACORN is flooding voter registrars with fraudulent applications that cannot be verified in time for next month’s election, raising the possibility of substantial illegal voting.

ACORN describes itself as “the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people,” and 36% believe Obama, a community organizer early in his career, or his campaign is affiliated with the group. But 39% say they are not. Twenty-five percent (25%) are undecided.

Obama’s campaign hired an ACORN affiliate to help get out the vote during the Democratic primaries but now says it has no ties to the group. John McCain and Sarah Palin are increasingly questioning Obama’s ties to ACORN as more reports of illegal voter registration surface.

While 62% of Republicans say Obama or his campaign has ties to ACORN, 68% of Democrats believe they do not. Forty percent (40%) of unaffiliated voters think there is some kind of connection between the two, but 32% disagree.

McCain has been trailing Obama in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll in recent weeks.

Just 21% of voters have a favorable view of ACORN. Sixty percent (60%) view the group unfavorably, with 39% saying their opinion of ACORN is Very Unfavorable. Only four percent (4%) have a Very Favorable opinion of the group.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Republicans and 43% of unaffiliated voters say their view of ACORN is Very Unfavorable, compared to 14% of Democrats.

Not surprisingly, given the communities ACORN serves, 44% of African-American voters have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of ACORN, while 64% of white voters view the group at least somewhat unfavorably.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters say they have been following news stories about the group. Only 10% say they have not followed news about ACORN at all.

Among those who say they are following news stories about ACORN Very Closely, belief that the group is deliberately registering illegal voters and that Obama or his campaign is affiliated with it exceed 60%.

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