WTOPNews.com reports the FBI is investigating whether the community activist group ACORN helped spark voter registration fraud around the nation.
A senior law enforcement official confirmed the investigation to AP. A second senior law enforcement official says the FBI was investigating at results of inquiries in several states, including a raid on ACORN's office in Las Vegas; they are looking for any evidence of a coordinated national effort.
"ACORN has not been notified that we are the target of an investigation by any authorities _ nor should we be," spokesman Kevin Whelan said in a statement. "ACORN members have done a good and patriotic thing by helping bring more than a million of their fellow citizens into our democratic process."
During the debate, Republican accusations about the group were raised, and Obama had to divulge his perspective on ACORN.
ACORN says it has registered 1.3 million young people, minorities and poor and working-class voters. More than 13,000 ACORN workers in 21 states recruited low-income voters, who tend to be Democrats.