November 6, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Roy L. Atha
1220 Selma Road
Springfield, OH 45505
Re: Election Office Case No. P-1175-IBT-EOH
Dear Mr. Atha:
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
Roy Atha, a member of Local Union 654. Mr. Atha alleges that the Election Officer’s election procedure to accept only ballots marked with a No. 2 pencil will disenfranchise members who do not have immediate or convenient access to such pencils and thus will “chill some members in the free exercise of their right to vote . . .”
Election Office Staff Attorney Jonathan K. O’Neill investigated the protest.
Allegations concerning the utility of specific writing instruments in the marking of ballots for the election of International officers has been previously addressed by the Election Officer. In Petrecca, P-1071-LU705-EOH (October 16, 1996), the protester objected to an instruction appearing in the October edition of Teamster magazine, under the title “How to Cast Your Vote.” The instruction directed that voting members should “[u]se a pencil only” in filling in the oval to the left of the slate or candidate of their choice on the ballot. In that case, the protester contended that such an instruction implies that marking a ballot in another fashion would result in a spoiled ballot.
In Petrecca, the Election Officer observed:
Roy Atha
November 6, 1996
Page 1
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.
Accordingly, the information received by Mr. Atha that only ballots marked with a “no. 2” pencil will be counted is inaccurate. As noted above, every ballot marked so that the intent of the voter is clear will be counted, whether marked in pen or in pencil. As a result, the protester’s contention that members who lack ready access to pencils will not be able to vote is without merit.
Accordingly, the protest is 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