NO NOTIFICATION TO MEMBERS IF BALLOTS ARE DISQUALIFIED

"...MEA assistant general manager Tuckerman Babcock said recently that about 4 percent of the ballots returned during each election are rejected."           --Anchorage Daily News  2.15.2008

4% is often more than the difference between winners and losers, and MEA members are not notified if their ballot is disqualified.  That's a real bad process.        --UtilityWatch  2.16.2008

MEA members are not notified when their ballot is disqualified, perhaps because the signature didn't match or the ballot envelope wasn't signed, or the spouse of the actual member signed.  Ballots are heald for 90 days following the election and then destroyed.  We don't know who lost their ballots in 2007, or why.  Similar high numbers of ballot disqualifications would cause an FBI investigation in a public election process.  Matanuska Telephone Association notifies its members if it disqualifies a ballot.

Peter Burchell introduced a motion at the January 14, 2008 MEA board meeting to notify MEA members if their ballot was disqualified, but the motion failed on a 3 to 4 vote.  

Voting FOR Notification	Voting AGAINST Notification
Peter Burchell, Katie Hurley, Lois Lester	David Dahms, Larry Devilbiss, David Glines, Lee Jordan

In the 2007 MEA board election only 118 votes separated winner Katie Hurley from Dallas Massey--a 3.5% difference..  Also in 2007 David Glines received only 78 votes more than Will Alteneder as the top two in a four candidate race.  The difference from the total vote was less than 4%.  The fairness of the election becomes a serious question.

WHAT YOU CAN DO to ensure your ballot is counted.

1.  Call MEA and verify that your ballot was received and counted.

2.  Make sure your signature card is up to date.

3.  Make sure the member whose name is on the bill also signs the ballot envelope.

4.  Vote at the annual meeting, Saturday March 1st.