The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an organization which helped register voters to help elect Barack Obama and for which Mr. Obama once worked, has been charged with voter registration fraud by the Nevada Attorney General.

Monday, Nevada’s Attorney General’s Office and Secretary of State’s Office filed charges against ACORN for voter registration violations and forging voter registration forms.

ACORN officials both locally and nationally say the charges are a complete surprise; national representatives say they were also unaware of any investigation.

Last October, the Secretary of State’s Office seized documents and computers from the local ACORN office. Election officials say it was likely that ACORN workers were trying to obtain more money for each registration form filled out.

Here’s more information on the charges:

The Nevada Attorney General and the Secretary of State have filed criminal charges against ACORN and two of its employees for compensating employees to register voters based on a quota system…

In southern Nevada, authorities also uncovered evidence ACORN allowed corrections inmates in transitional facilities to handle registration paperwork which is illegal.

The allegations come as a shock to…well, no one. The only real surprise here is that someone in power possesses the gnads to go after the organization for its fraudulent activities. Good to know.