Calls mounting for SAG re-vote
Gilbert takes over as Guild prexy
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Calls have mounted for Gilbert, who topped Valerie Harper by 1,588 votes, to re-run her race due to alleged improprieties in how SAG staff and Sequoia Voting Systems conducted the election. And presidential candidate Eugene Boggs, who finished third, asserted Monday that Gilbert would have probably lost, had the rules been followed.
"This SAG 2001 election is appropriate for seeking judicial action that would result in the election being voided and re-run," Boggs said in an amended challenge. "But for the violations, Valerie Harper, not Melissa Gilbert, probably would have won."
Gilbert has said she is unconcerned about the election controversy.
Boggs' questions
Boggs' challenge focuses on violations of members' right to be treated equally, due to two unannounced extra days of voting in New York and the lack of a required signature line on New York ballots. Those violations, in turn, "show that SAG did not provide adequate safeguards to insure a fair election."
Boggs also blasted SAG staff in the challenge, asserting that "reported likely staff negligence in administering the election may have, in fact, been a form of campaigning for a candidate" and would violate SAG personnel rules and federal law. SAG CEO Bob Pisano warned staff in a Sept. 17 memo to remain neutral in the election.
But Boggs asserted that SAG branch staffers outside Hollywood and New York preferred Gilbert because of dissatisfaction with Daniels' policies. A large part of Gilbert's campaign platform consisted of attacking Daniels, who had endorsed Harper.
"Improper staff involvement in the election campaign for Gilbert is certainly possible, and, in my view, even likely given the difficulty of monitoring staff activities from Hollywood headquarters," Boggs added.
Why extra days?
Boggs also noted that an exceptionally large number of votes -- 972, or over 15% of total New York ballots cast -- were received on the final day of the 20 for voting. But he pointed out that no one on the SAG staff has taken responsibility for authorizing the two extra days.
"Normal SAG voting patterns, I am given to understand, see most ballots mailed back shortly after receipt and a steady decline in receipts through the voting period," he said. "The typical vote return graph then would have the shape of a sliding board in profile. The final rise in the New York 2001 totals makes its graph more of a roller coaster, an unusual pattern highly unlikely to occur randomly."
Meanwhile, at Gilbert's first meeting as president Monday night, Harper supporters showed they retain control of the nation board's Hollywood branch by voting in Cynthia Steele to fill Gilbert's term as a board member over Vivicca Whitsett, who had been Gilbert's choice. Steele, who finished 14th in the race for 13 seats, was part of Harper's slate; Whitsett, who finished 15th, was on Gilbert's slate.
In the first concerted action related to the election controversy, about 30 members staged a lunchtime demonstration Monday in front of SAG's headquarters. Picketers carried signs reading "SAG Election Corrupt" and "We Demand a Fair Union Election" and chanted such ditties as "Staff Don't Vote" and "I don't know, but I've been told, this election's bought and sold; I don't know, but I can see, this election stinks to me."
The group handed out letters of protest to submit to Pisano, demanding that the staff and the national board hold a new election.
"This is a travesty, and no matter whom is found responsible, our election is tainted," part of the missive said.
Voting irregularities
Organizer Klein Al'n said the event came about in response to members' anger over allegations of SAG staff involvement and disparities in election procedures, including 260 more New York ballots being counted than were deposited in the official post office box; 24,800 New York ballots lacking signature lines on return envelopes despite SAG requirements; and the unannounced two-day extension for New York voting.
"This is about doing the process correctly," Al'n said, noting that winning treasurer candidate Kent McCord is challenging the election despite winning by 34 votes. "Kent is saying that if the election is not run properly, the office isn't worth having."
Hollywood board members Russell McConnell and Paul Napier walked the picket line. "This is not for the purpose of changing the results; it's for doing what's right," Napier said.
SAG's only official comment Monday was that all challenges will be reviewed by the elections committee, which meets Wednesday and will have until Dec. 16 to rule.
SAG insisted on Oct. 30 that it had conducted the election within Dept. of Labor guidelines, but it has never elaborated on how it can violate its own rules.
