FROM: WBAI Local Election Supervisor
RE: WBAI Local Station Board Election Update
DATE: November 5, 2009

WBAI members and staff have been waiting, first patiently, then frantically, and now furiously, for their chance to vote in the Station Board election.

The anger is justified. Thousands of ballots have not reached voters. The reason: when the mailing went out, the member list obtained from WBAI by Pacifica Radio in California – where all five local station board elections are coordinated – was two years out of date. Many current members were not on the list.

The election supervisors have had to adjust the deadline for ballot returns more than once. The process brings to mind the title of Grace Paley's book, “Enormous Changes at the Last Minute.” Now, the last minute is upon us, and this must be the last enormous change.

The final deadline for ALL ballots is DECEMBER 10, 2009. On December 11th, all the remaining ballots in the election post office box will be collected, and any ballots not collected by that date will be ineligible.

PACIFICA HAS BROUGHT THE LIST COMPLETELY UP TO DATE, and extra ballots have been printed and WILL BE MAILED to everyone on the list [joined or renewed between July 16, 2008 and July 15, 2009] whose name did not appear on the original, out-of-date list used for the first mailing.

The mailing of ballots has been delayed until November 5, 2009.

As many members now know, the Pacifica bylaws require that any party in the election must be granted access to the member list for the purpose of sending campaign materials directly to members.

In October, the election campaign staff (National and Local Supervisors) discovered that we would have to have a second mailing to reach the members who were not reached in the first one.

This posed problems for the three slates that had already sent out mailings using the earlier list. Representatives of the three slates that produced their own mailers came together, seeking more time to print new mailers, insisting that the mailing date for the remaining ballots be postponed so that members could get their ballots and the mailers at the same time.

In response, the election supervisors proposed that the remaining WBAI ballots will be mailed on November 5, with a return deadline of December 10. This proposal was accepted by all parties.

In closing, we urge all ballot recipients to:

1. Read the campaign booklet carefully, and vote by putting “1” next to your most preferred candidate, “2” by your second choice, and so on.
2. Send your ballot back, using the enclosed envelope, as soon as you can. Use the US mail – and it's best to mail it right at your closest post office.

If you find yourself without a return envelope with your ballot, you can use and ordinary envelope addressed to:

WBAI Pacifica Radio
P.O. Box 996
Bowling Green Annex
90 Church Street
New York, NY 10007

Do not drop your ballot off at the WBAI office – loose ballots are hard to verify. There is no way to vote by email, fax or photocopied ballot.

We regret the extra burdens that our problems have placed on you, the bedrock of WBAI. Please don't be put off from voting. More than ever, the station's future depends on you.

Ethan Young
WBAI Local Election Supervisor