A public hearing is scheduled for THURS., NOV. 29 at 10:30 AM, at New York State Supreme Court, 80 Centre St., Manhattan, in Room 320 before Judge Braun.
PLEASE COME OUT EARLY!
For updated information, check back here or call 212-591-2111.
Brief Overview
Nine people with strong affiliations to the ACE endorsed slate have filed a complaint against WBAI pertaining to the elections. Their arguments are:
a) that the deadline for the return of ballots should not be extended and that the cutoff date should be November 15th, as stated in the bylaws, b) that the only replacement ballots that should be issued and accepted are those that were requested by November 15th; and c) that they (the plaintiffs) should get the names and addresses of all of those who were sent replacement ballots.
Furthermore, in their complaint they made unsubstantiated allegations against
staff, claiming that workers whom they assume to be politically opposed to their views tampered with the membership list to prevent ACE-ists from receiving ballots
In fact, there are Justice and Unity candidates, members and supporters who have also not received either original or replacement ballots. And while we are not a named party in this lawsuit, we believe that everyone who is entitled to a ballot should receive one, and that all ballots should be counted. We strongly assert that the deadline for receiving ballots should be extended, and had formally requested an extension of that deadline before the plaintiffs filed a complaint with the court on October 16th.
The bylaws state that the ballots should be mailed to voters on October 15 and should be returned by November 15, implicitly providing for a 31-day balloting timeline at the minimum.
However, the ballots in this election were sent out 8 days late, on October 23. Justice and Unity does not believe that the WBAI membership should be shortchanged. At the very least, the 31-day timeline outlined in the bylaws should apply. To insist that the deadline should be retroactively fixed at November 15 after public announcements by the election supervisor of an extension to at least November 23, with the knowledge that the ballots were sent out late, is extremely unfair to listeners outside the ACE internet clique.
Moreover, Justice and Unity maintains that while the attack on the staff could be dismissed as silly and ignorant if it weren’t so ugly, workers should be free from such abuse, especially from board members who havve a greater responsibility to the station. We also believe that the privacy of the WBAI membership should be protected and that no one, other than authorized personnel, should have access to membership information.
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