IN RE: JACK VLAHOVIC, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 260
Issued: May 22, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-256-040706-CA
Jack Vlahovic, member and independent candidate for alternate delegate of Local Union 155, filed a post-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 3 of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). He asserted that the local union election committee counted ballots improperly at the tally of ballots in the delegate and alternate delegate election.
Election Supervisor representative Maria F. Giardini investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
Local Union 155 conducted an election for one delegate and one alternate delegate. Two full slates competed in the election; in addition, two independent candidates ran for alternate delegate.
Ballot instructions included the following:
- Vote for no more than 1 delegate candidate and no more than 1 alternate delegate candidate.
- You may vote for a full slate.
- Instead of voting for any slate, you may vote for individual candidates, whether or not on a slate, so long as the total number of delegates and alternate delegate candidate votes does not exceed the total to be elected.
- ***
- By placing a mark in the slate box …, you will have voted for all of the individual candidates on that slate.
The tally was conducted April 4. A number of ballots showed votes for a slate and for an independent candidate for alternate delegate. The election committee counted the ballots as votes for each candidate on the slate and no vote for the independent candidate. The protestor complained that such ballots should have been voided as over-votes because the effect of the ballot marks cast votes for one delegate candidate and two alternate delegate candidates.
Analysis
The election committee counted the ballots correctly. Article II, Section 11(g) of the Rules states the following:
(g) If on any ballot the total number of candidate votes exceeds the number of persons to be elected to that position, that portion of the ballot shall be void, except where a voter has marked the ballot for a full or partial slate of candidates, the slate vote only shall be counted. The remaining portion of the ballot shall be counted. Where a voter has marked a ballot for both a full or partial slate and for some or all of the candidates listed under that slate heading, the markings for the individual slate members shall be disregarded, and the slate marking shall be counted as a vote for every member of that slate.
(Emphasis added).
Although the ballots contested by the protestor contained an over-vote for the alternate delegate position, the election committee applied the Rules correctly by counting the slate vote and not counting the vote for the independent alternate delegate candidate.
Accordingly, we DENY this protest.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal and shall be served upon:
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, New York 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1725 K Street, N.W., Suite 1400, Washington, D.C. 20007-5135, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2006 ESD 260
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa.
Hoffa 2006
30300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 324
Farmington Hills, MI 48834
David@hoffapllc.com
Barbara Harvey
645 Griswold Street
Suite 3060
Detroit, MI 48226
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210
ken@tdu.org
Daniel E. Clifton
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
275 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2300
New York, NY 10001
dclifton@lcnlaw.com
Stephen Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Jack Vlahovic
604 49th Street East
North Vancouver, BC V7L 1J8
CANADA
Thomas Milne, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 155
490 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5T 1X3
CANADA
Maria Giardini
400 Fourth Avenue, SW
Suite 3000
Calgary, AB T2P 0J4
CANADA
mgiardini@davis.ca
Gwen Randall
400 Fourth Avenue, SW
Suite 3000
Calgary, AB T2P 0J4
CANADA
grandall@davis.ca
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com