Fox News' Kelly mocked ACORN for accurate statement about Florida registration law

Fox News' Megyn Kelly mocked ACORN's statement that it was required under Florida law to submit a voter registration form filed under the name “Mickey Mouse” to the Orange County, Florida, board of elections. In fact, Florida law calls for entities withholding voter registration forms to face a fine of $1,000 for each registration they withhold.

On the October 14 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, co-host Megyn Kelly mocked the statement by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) that it was required under Florida law to submit a voter registration form filed under the name “Mickey Mouse” to the Orange County, Florida, board of elections. After co-host Bill Hemmer noted that the board of elections had rejected the form in question, and that “ACORN says they are required to turn in every application that is filled out, even if it says Mickey Mouse,” Kelly asserted: “I love that, they've got the obligation to submit it no matter what it says. Mickey Mouse, Jive Turkey, which we saw yesterday. How are we to know?” An October 14 St. Petersburg Times article reporting on the “Mickey Mouse” registration form quoted Brian Kettenring, whom the Times identified as “ACORN's head organizer in Florida,” as asserting: “We must turn in every voter registration card by Florida law, even Mickey Mouse.” Indeed, under Florida law, entities withholding voter registration forms face a fine of $1,000 for each registration they withhold.

According to Florida statutes governing third-party registrations, “A third-party voter registration organization that collects voter registration applications serves as a fiduciary to the applicant, ensuring that any voter registration application entrusted to the third-party voter registration organization, irrespective of party affiliation, race, ethnicity, or gender shall be promptly delivered to the division or the supervisor of elections.” If the third-party voter registration organization fails to submit a voter registration application, it is liable for "[a] fine in the amount of $1,000 for any application not submitted if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully." From the 2008 Florida statutes:

(3) A third-party voter registration organization that collects voter registration applications serves as a fiduciary to the applicant, ensuring that any voter registration application entrusted to the third-party voter registration organization, irrespective of party affiliation, race, ethnicity, or gender shall be promptly delivered to the division or the supervisor of elections. If a voter registration application collected by any third-party voter registration organization is not promptly delivered to the division or supervisor of elections, the third-party voter registration organization shall be liable for the following fines:

(a) A fine in the amount of $50 for each application received by the division or the supervisor of elections more than 10 days after the applicant delivered the completed voter registration application to the third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf. A fine in the amount of $250 for each application received if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.

(b) A fine in the amount of $100 for each application collected by a third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, prior to book closing for any given election for federal or state office and received by the division or the supervisor of elections after the book closing deadline for such election. A fine in the amount of $500 for each application received if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.

(c) A fine in the amount of $500 for each application collected by a third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, which is not submitted to the division or supervisor of elections. A fine in the amount of $1,000 for any application not submitted if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.

The aggregate fine pursuant to this subsection which may be assessed against a third-party voter registration organization, including affiliate organizations, for violations committed in a calendar year shall be $1,000. The fines provided in this subsection shall be reduced by three-fourths in cases in which the third-party voter registration organization has complied with subsection (1). The secretary shall waive the fines described in this subsection upon a showing that the failure to deliver the voter registration application promptly is based upon force majeure or impossibility of performance.

From the October 14 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:

HELLER: Well, you know how to spell it, don't you? M-I-C-K-E-Y, that's right. That's how Mickey Mouse was spelled on a voter application handed in in Florida. Apparently Mickey wants to do his civic duty. That's right. His registration form had an ACORN stamp on it. It was quickly rejected by the county board of elections. They saw it, threw it out. ACORN says they are required to turn in every application that is filled out, even if it says Mickey Mouse. No word on whether or not he registered as a Republican or a Democrat. In the meantime, we are six minutes away from an ACORN press conference live at the National Press Club here in Washington. Their defense for all the stories that have been swirling out about there for the past week or 10 days, we will take you there live when it starts, Megyn, at 10:30 Eastern Time, expected start here.

KELLY: I love that, they've got the obligation to submit it no matter what it says. Mickey Mouse, Jive Turkey, which we saw yesterday.

HELLER: Jive Turkey.

KELLY: How are we to know?