"ST. LOUIS — The grass-roots political group ACORN became a player in U.S. politics by combing streets, signing new voters and giving a voice to the poor.
Thousands of people in the St. Louis area know ACORN workers as the visitors at the door reminding them to vote. The group is part of a coalition backing an increase in Missouri's minimum wage on the Nov. 7 ballot.
But the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is becoming better known for accusations of voter fraud, a reputation it says is unfair.
Meanwhile, a longtime ACORN worker in St. Louis who was fired this month is accusing the group of directing its paid workers to go door-to-door to campaign for Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, a Democrat.
The group denies the claim, saying that while no law bars them from supporting a candidate, it has not endorsed McCaskill in her challenge to Sen. Jim Talent, a Republican.
ACORN fired Josephine Perkins this month after a co-worker accused her of swiping a purse at the organization's office, 4304 Manchester Avenue.
Perkins, a longtime city activist who worked for ACORN for 11 years, denies the theft and says her bosses fabricated the charge because she spoke out about what she thought was improper electioneering for McCaskill. The theft of the purse was reported to St. Louis police; no one has been charged.
In a twist, Perkins was hired days later as a temporary worker by the city's Republican elections director, Scott Leiendecker, an outspoken ACORN critic.
Cards are subpoenaed
What proportion of voter registrations turned in by ACORN were really fraudulent or incomplete was unclear Friday and may remain so until after the election. The U.S. attorney's office has subpoenaed thousands of registration cards flagged by Leiendecker's office as suspicious.
Last week, Leiendecker sent letters to 5,000 voters registered by ACORN, asking them to verify their registrations on the phone and with signatures returned by mail.
Kevin Whalen, a national spokesman for ACORN, criticized the action as "wrong and illegal." Leiendecker "can't make up extra steps just because he doesn't like us," Whalen said.
Leiendecker said indications were that 10 percent to 15 percent of the 5,000 registrations set aside were legitimate.
"I know that we got several individuals who said they did not fill out these cards," he said.
Many of the cards appeared to be signed by the same person, Leiendecker said. The forms included three from dead people and one from a 16-year-old."
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