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Some civil rights leaders joined with a Democrat-aligned group Thursday to accuse the Republican Party of hiring hundreds of poll challengers to suppress the black vote in St. Louis. Missouri GOP spokesman Paul Sloca called the accusation from the leaders and the group America Coming Together "disgusting" and "blatantly false." St. Louis NAACP President Harold Crumpton and black ministers spoke at a news conference outside the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners office. Crumpton said Republicans have obtained lists of newly registered voters and hired 300 poll challengers. "This is a deliberate effort to throw obstacles in the way of African-Americans exercising their right to vote," Crumpton said. "Are they challenging voters in Franklin County? Or Washington County? No. It is no coincidence that they are doing this in areas where African-Americans vote." St. Louis has a history of polling irregularity. [more]