Election Board Hires Perkins, Asks New Registered Voters For More Info
Filed Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 12:00 PM
A story in today’s Post-Dispatch recounts much of what has already been reported on this and other websites about allegations of fraud, poor management and collusion by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). But reporter Jeremy Kohler’s article does add one new piece of information.
“In a twist, [Josephine Perkins, the fired ACORN worker featured in PUB DEF’s Oct. 4 exclusive video report] was hired days later as a temporary worker by the city’s Republican elections director, Scott Leiendecker, an outspoken ACORN critic,” wrote Kohler, putting Perkins’ credibility in question and apparently suggesting the Republican-controlled Election Board was rewarding Perkins for publicly alleging that ACORN managers instructed employees to get out the vote for Democrat Claire McCaskill.
The Post did not mention that the job Leiendecker gave Perkins pays just $7.25 an hour (75 cents less than ACORN pays) and lasts only two weeks.
Leiendecker told PUB DEF in a phone interview yesterday that he felt sorry for Perkins, who came to his office last week nearly a month after being fired by an ACORN manager who she and other workers identified as telling them to GOTV for the Democratic candidate. ACORN maintains they fired Perkins for stealing a purse, a charge she vehemently denies.
Leiendecker said he respected her spirit and decades of experience in northside organizing. After also being interviewed by Democratic Director of Elections Mary Wheeler-Jones, Leiendecker said Perkins was offered a temporary job helping the Board prepare for the Nov. 7 election.
In related news, Leiendecker and Jones sent letters last week to hundreds of people that were registered to vote by ACORN workers, asking them to call the Board of Elections to confirm their registration.
This appears to add an additional hurdle to the voter registration process, one that civil rights organizations may soon jump on.
“Due to concerns about a number of the Applications submitted by ACORN, as reported recently in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, we are asking that you contact the Election Board so that we can confirm your voter registration information and complete the registration process,” states the letter dated Oct. 24.
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