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, 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.

"She seemed very sincere," Leiendecker said. "She seemed like someone who was very concerned about the process."

Selisa Washington, from ACORN's St. Louis office, said in an e-mail Friday that the group was "appalled but not surprised" by Perkins' hiring and said the group did not appreciate Leiendecker's "dirty political tricks."

Cards are subpoenaed

What proportion of voter registrations turned in by ACORN were 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 registrations by 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.

ACORN said it had fired three workers behind bogus registrations but says, locally and nationally, it has unfairly become a target for political grandstanding.