October 16, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Nick Petrecca
6811 W. Roosevelt Road
Berwyn, IL 60402
Re: Election Office Case No. P-1071-LU705-EOH
Dear Mr. Petrecca:
A pre-election protest was filed pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) by
Nick Petrecca, a member of Local Union 705. Mr. Petrecca asserts that the information printed at the direction of the Election Officer in the October 1996 issue of The Teamster magazine is incorrect and should be changed in any future editions.
Election Office Staff Attorney Jonathan K. O’Neill investigated the protest.
The protester points to a voting instruction sheet appearing on page 57 of the October edition of The Teamster. The page “How to Cast Your Vote” was developed and approved by the Election Officer. The protester specifically objects to the instruction that members should “Use a pencil only” in filling in the oval to the left of the slate or candidate of their choice. The protester contends that such an instruction implies that marking a ballot in another fashion would result in a spoiled ballot.
No ballot will be considered “spoiled” because it is marked in pen. Every ballot marked in such a manner where the intent of the voter is clear will be counted, in accordance with the Rules. The voting instructions, however, were developed in order to direct IBT members to follow the procedure that would best facilitate the electronic counting of ballots. The machines being utilized to count ballots read virtually every type of pencil, but the same is not true with respect to all pens. Therefore, the vendor providing this equipment recommended to the Election Officer that members be instructed to use only pencil.
Nick Petrecca
October 16, 1996
Page 1
The Election Officer recognizes that this instruction will not be universally followed and the Supplemental Rules for the 1996 IBT International Officer Mail Ballot Election (“Count Rules”) have taken this into consideration. Article VII, Section 2 of the Count Rules provides for a procedure of hand review of any ballots that cannot be counted by the machine. If it is determined that the ballot cannot be read by the machine and the voter’s intent is clear, the ballots will be either be remarked or remade on a blank ballot which corresponds to the original ballot, in the presence of candidate observers. A copy of the Count Rules is enclosed with this decision.[1]
Under Article I of the Rules, the Election Officer has the authority to conduct the International officer election. The voting instruction objected to by the protester is consistent with the Election Officer’s authority and does not violate the Rules.
The protest is, therefore, DENIED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 400 N. Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, D.C. 20001, Facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Barbara Zack Quindel
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
Nathaniel K. Charny, Ron Carey Campaign
Tom Pazzi, James P. Hoffa Campaign
Leroy Ellis, Jr., Stand Up for Teamsters Slate
[1]The Count Rules were issued on September 5, 1996 and were presented to District Court for approval; a decision is pending.