Gov. Matt Blunt, a former secretary of state, is out today with a statement that raises lots of questions about what's going to happen on Nov. 4.

Here's the statement:

“As governor and as a former secretary of state, I am very concerned about the integrity of the upcoming election.  I became secretary of state following the voter fraud that occurred in 2000 and issued a comprehensive report entitled ‘Mandate for Reform: Election Turmoil in St. Louis November 7, 2000,’ http://governor.mo.gov/lawsuit_reform/MandateReformIssued7-24-01.pdf, which provided the framework for election reform in Missouri.

“Contrary to assertions that voter fraud has not occurred in Missouri, my report found that well over 1,000 improper ballots were cast in St. Louis City and St. Louis County.  Further my report found that there was in St. Louis an organized and successful effort to generate improper votes in large numbers.

“In response to the lessons of 2000 we enacted significant reforms that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.  We enabled the real time voter registration database to catch voters who might try to register in multiple jurisdictions, increased the canvassing of the voter registration rolls to ensure they are up to date, required voter registrations to be turned in within five business days from the date a person registered, required voters who register by mail to show up in person at least once before voting absentee, added two questions to the voter registration form including ‘Are you an American citizen?’ and ‘Will you be 18 before the next election?’ and many other changes to ensure fair, open and honest elections in Missouri.  As a result, the 2002 election and the next presidential election in 2004 ran smoothly.

“In the aftermath of the 2006 election, 12 workers for ACORN were convicted of voter fraud in St. Louis and Kansas City.  Now the FBI is investigating attempts by ACORN to commit voter registration fraud in Missouri and other states in this election.  This is deeply troubling to me because these efforts to game the system with fraudulent registrations undermine public confidence in our election process.  At least one Missouri official has attempted to downplay ACORN’s attempts to commit fraud as insignificant.  I strongly disagree.  The only reason for someone to commit voter registration fraud is to attempt to commit voter fraud.

“I am asking Secretary of State Robin Carnahan to do everything she can to ensure we have a fair election and an outcome that the voters can trust.  Under the Help America Vote Act and Missouri law, Secretary of State Carnahan now maintains Missouri’s single statewide voter roll.  We want to ensure that this voter roll is current and accurate and that every eligible voter is properly registered and that fraudulent registrations do not end up on this voter roll.  I have asked Secretary Carnahan if there is any assistance or resources my administration can provide her office to help accomplish this goal.

“Ensuring that we have a fair election should never, under any circumstance, result in the intimidation of any Missouri voter, period.  As governor, I signed the Missouri Voter Protection Act to protect the right of all Missourians to vote and to increase confidence that our elections are fair, open and honest.  The law guarantees voters the right of access to their poll without intimidation or harassment, creates a felony offense for using violence or knowingly providing false information to keep a person from voting and guarantees a full provisional ballot.

“Missouri is once again a battleground state and now is the time to be vigilant.  Let’s have an election result we can trust.”