8 St. Louis voter registrtion workers admit to fraud

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Eight workers for a get-out-the-vote effort in St. Louis city and county have pleaded guilty to federal election fraud for submitting false registration cards for the 2006 election, authorities said Wednesday.

The workers were employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), gathering voter registrations. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said they submitted cards with false addresses and names, and forged signatures.

They are Brian Bland, 23, Bobbie Jean Cheeks, 50, Cortez Cowan, 21, Golden Gibson, 21, Radonna Marie Smith, 24, Anthony Reliford, 21, Kenneth Williams, 21, and Tyaira Williams, 23, all of St. Louis. Williams was sentenced in March to 15 months in prison. The others are scheduled for sentencing in June. Each faces up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.

New Orleans-based ACORN encourages low- and moderate-income residents to community activism.

The organization has said the former, temporary hourly workers were likely trying to increase their pay by turning in more, albeit, false applications.

ACORN has said it has improved its "quality control program."

St. Louis election officials have said they had problems with ACORN submissions in past years and worked with the organization to try and correct them, including asking them to put potentially fraudulent cards aside.

Hanaway said ACORN has agreed to a number of reforms to improve voter registration and quality control procedures, and report possible illegal activity.