ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612120051
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHEVY CHASE, MD.
SOURCE: KEVIN GALVIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Incumbent Ron Carey held a slight edge in his bid to retain the Teamsters' presidency Wednesday. Challenger James P. Hoffa's campaign alleged that irregularities had compromised the ballot-counting process.
Barbara Zack Quindel, the federally appointed election overseer, dismissed questions about the integrity of the election to choose a leader for the 1.4 million-member union.
``There is no question in my mind that the ballots are being counted fairly,'' she said.
With 8 percent of the ballots tallied, Carey led Hoffa 26,877 to 19,674, according to Quindel. Neither side believed the small number of ballots counted thus far showed a convincing trend.
The process had lagged badly on the first day of counting, with less than 1 percent tallied by late Tuesday night. While the pace picked up Wednesday, Tuesday's count prompted a protest from Hoffa.
``Not only have we not had quality, we have not had quantity,'' said Tom Pazzi, manager of the Hoffa campaign. ``It's a shame. It's a sham.''
The Hoffa campaign lodged a formal complaint with Quindel, saying she had failed to include the number of challenged and voided ballots on tally sheets and counted an unusual number of locals out of order.
Quindel called off counting late Tuesday night after an estimated 20,000 ballot envelopes had been opened. Although the room was sealed and observers from each campaign watched the counting room doors overnight, Hoffa supporters called the decision a serious breach of security.
They also complained that by switching the order of locals, the election officer was favoring the Carey campaign.
``If you count a bunch of big Carey locals early,'' Pazzi said, ``that tells you how many Hoffa ballots you have to lose, you have to misplace.''
Quindel agreed to add the number of challenged and voided ballots to the tally sheet of each local. As of Wednesday evening, 3,827 ballots had been challenged and 1,223 had been voided.
Quindel said the open ballots were secure all night and denied any political motivation for the order in which locals were tallied.
This is the second direct election in Teamsters history, an arrangement that grew out of a 1989 settlement the union made with the federal government to avoid racketeering charges.
Carey was elected in 1991 and made fighting corruption the centerpiece of his first term. He says Hoffa's supporters are hurt most by his reforms.
Hoffa accuses Carey of being a weak negotiator and a bad manager of union funds. His supporters hope the 55-year-old son of Teamsters legend Jimmy Hoffa can return the Teamsters to the position of strength the union knew under his father's stewardship.
The Justice Department and the Labor Department are paying $22million to underwrite the cost of the election. The funds, spread over four fiscal years, also were used to monitor the selection of delegates to the union's convention, at which Carey and Hoffa were nominated.
About $10.2 million has been spent thus far, but the final stage of the contest is expected to be the most costly.
Participation in the election outpaced the 1991 contest, but still only about 34 percent of Teamsters members voted. An exact number of returns won't be known until the final tally, but estimates put the response at 486,000 to 500,000 ballots.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Challenger James P. Hoffa's campaign lodged a formalby CNBcomplaint, saying an unusual number of locals had been counted out
of order. color.