UPDATED   WASHINGTON — Late afternoon on Monday, the Senate will take up a knotty problem that has slowed preparation for the 2010 Census — the stalled nomination of Robert Groves to head the Census Bureau.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced today that the Senate would hold a cloture vote seeking to break the logjam over Groves’ nomination caused by at least two Republican senators.

Groves, a former Census Bureau official and head of the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, is considered well-qualified to run the government’s head-counting office.

But Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Richard Shelby of Alabama, both Republicans, have raised concerns that he might deploy statistical sampling to get a better count of traditionally undercounted minorities. That would be unlawful, and Groves has promised to stick to traditional methods for next spring’s Census count.

What’s also been troubling to his critics is the concern that the White House would allow  ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to be involved in the Census when it rounds up hundreds of local groups to spread the word about the count.

To many Republicans, the very mention of ACORN is tantamount to waving a red sheet in front of an angry bull. The organization has been investigated in several states for voter registration fraud and an indictment was handed down in a St. Louis case earlier this year.  ACORN, which has been closely identified with the Democratic Party, contends it is the victim of partisan witchhunts.

(Glenn Burleigh, head organizer for ACORN in St. Louis, emailed after this post ran to say that the woman indicted “had worked for ACORN (but) she was fired. Later, she allegedly submitted false voter registration applications while working for Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, not ACORN.”) 

A spokesman for Vitter told Roll Call newspaper in Washington this week that Vitter would continue his effort to block Groves until he had written confirmation from the White House that the former ACORN would not be involved in the Census.

Vitter’s office did not return our call today but his opposition may not matter if Democrats have enough GOP votes on Monday to move the nomination, which appears quite possible given Groves’ bipartisan backing in the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

That would be a good thing, said Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, who heads the House subcommittee that oversees the Census.

“We’re hearing positive signs from the Senate,” Clay said.

Next year’s Census is a big deal for Missouri, Clay noted, because of the potential of losing a congressional seat because of dwindling population.

The 2010 Census likely will be the most difficult ever due to population shifts, home foreclosures and disasters such as Hurricane Katrina which uprooted many families. The Government Accountability Office has been criticial of preparations and Clay believes that having a permanent director will help the government get ready.

“They’ve been run by a committee over there. It’s probably a good method but you need to have permanent leadership like Dr. Groves,” Clay said.