Publication: Las Vegas Sun
By Ed Koch

It wouldn't be a Las Vegas NAACP election without someone yelling foul before or after the voting.

And so it comes as no surprise that accusations of voter irregularities are flying just days before Saturday's election where incumbent Gene Collins faces former Assemblyman Lonie Chaney.

Chaney, through his attorney Chris Rasmussen, sent a letter dated Oct. 30 to Julian Bond, national chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, asking that a national representative be dispatched to Las Vegas to oversee the election.

Chaney and two of his running mates, also represented by Rasmussen, claim that as many as 150-300 potential voters may not be in good standing.

"It is believed by my clients that (Collins) is back-dating applications for nominees which will allow the nominees to be considered members of good standing ... for at least (the required) 180 days," Rasmussen wrote to Bond.

"In addition, it is believed by my clients that President Collins has purchased memberships with branch funds for individuals promising to vote for the candidates he supports, including himself."

Collins denied the accusations, saying, "everyone knows the NAACP does not have any money -- certainly no funds to pay for memberships for people to join. It also is not true (that memberships were back-dated). Only those who have been members for six months will be allowed to vote."

Currently, the NAACP has about 1,000 members who have paid a $30 annual dues compared to 1,200 members in 1998 that paid $10 per year.

How past NAACP elections have been plagued by controversies:

• In 1998, former state Assemblyman Collins edged out former NAACP President Jesse Scott. Both Scott and Louis Overstreet, whose name was removed from the ballot by the national office because he did not become a member of the Las Vegas chapter in time to run, complained about the election. It also was said that a large number of voters were disenfranchised because notice was not given to the membership 10 days prior to the election. Only 252 members voted. The election was upheld.
• In 1997 a special election was called after the initial November 1996 election was contested and the results were thrown out. The Rev. James Rogers was elected to a second two-year term, defeating newspaper columnist Barbara Robinson. During the initial election, only 150 of the more than 1,000 members voted. Robinson had claimed that 80 members she had signed up were denied voting privileges. The protest was upheld.
• In 1994 Rogers, endorsed by Scott, won the election, edging out Robinson. But controversy brewed before that election, when a third presidential candidate, Leo McDaniels, claimed the election process was flawed because consent forms required for each candidate, "were stolen out of the files of (the) branch office."