Acorn voter registration recruiter indicted on voter fraud charges

KSDK -- An East St. Louis woman who worked for Acorn submitted false information on voter registration cards according to a federal indictment.

Deidra Humphrey is charged with submitting the forged cards in connection with the November 2008 general election. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway alleges that Humphrey would forge cards for residents at nursing homes without their knowledge.

According to the indictment, between June and August 2008, Humphrey worked as a voter registration recruiter for ACORN and then MPVC, obtaining voter registrations. In some cases, Humphrey submitted false and forged voter registration cards to the Boards of Election in St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition (MPVC) are non-profit organizations that conducted voter registration drives for the November 4, 2008 general election. Acorn publicly endorsed Barack Obama as its choice for president early last year.

The workers for these two organizations were trained and instructed regarding how to obtain voter registrations and how to prepare voter registration applications, including instruction that the actual voter must sign the voter application because a forged signature is a violation of the law.

Humphrey, 44, was indicted by a federal grand jury December 31, on two felony counts of voter registration fraud. She is expected to appear in federal court early this week.

If convicted, each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or fines between $10,000 and $250,000.