Two former employees of ACORN today said they and other workers were pressed to gather voter registrations and threatened with firing if they failed to meet a quota of 20 to 25 each day.

"We definitely had to reach a quota. If we didn't reach a quota we'd lose our jobs," said Mario Grisom, a Wilkinsburg man who was among seven people charged with a variety of counts, including forgery, last week.

A preliminary hearing into the ACORN charges began this morning in Municipal Court. Mr. Grisom, 28, and five others charged along with him asked for and received postponements because they didn't have lawyers.

In a hallway outside the courtroom, Mr. Grisom and Ashley Clarke blamed ACORN supervisors who they said sometimes completed partially filled applications that they turned in.

"The bosses -- if the date of birth wasn't filled out -- they would find it and fill it out for us," said Ms. Clarke, 21.

One ACORN worker who went ahead with her hearing was Latasha Kinney, 27, who is accused of handing in a dozen applications with incorrect dates of birth and sometimes forged signatures. She was ordered to trial by District Judge Gene Ricciardi.

Allegheny County detectives, in an affidavit, said Ms. Kinney told an investigator she worked inside ACORN's Pittsburgh office and completed forged applications she said were given to her by her supervisor.

Among the applications she is accused of forging was one for Mildred Y. Jung, a Penn Hills woman who had died several months earlier. Her husband, William Jung, was in court today and testified that his wife died in March 2008 but a voter registration card for her arrived in October 2008. He said the card stood out because it used his wife's nickname, Bonnie.

Another person listed on forms handed in by Ms. Kinney is Pamela Young, also of Penn Hills. Ms. Young said before the hearing the form did not affect her right to vote, but "it's wrong, it's a fraud."

Observing the hearings were two lawyers representing ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The organization and its Pittsburgh officials have not been charged in the case, but District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said last week the investigation is continuing and indicated higher-ups could face charges.