Hatcher Reelected President of NAACP Branch : Vote: The incumbent is retained by a wide margin in a replay of earlier ballot. Results are again disputed by challenger Fred Jones.

John R. Hatcher III, president of Ventura County’s NAACP chapter for more than 10 years, was overwhelmingly reelected Friday, but his opponent called the election unfair and vowed to keep fighting for the office.

In a virtual replay of a disputed election last December, Hatcher, 59, defeated Fred Jones, 62, by a vote of 44-12.

Jones had challenged the December balloting, alleging bylaw violations. The NAACP’s national board agreed with him at its national convention in July and directed board member John Mance of Granada Hills to conduct a second election.

Jones, however, charged that Friday’s election also failed to abide by NAACP rules because not all 200 members of the local chapter were notified.

“This will not be the end of it, I assure you,” Jones said. “This is just Round 1. I have to get with my advisers and see what the next course of action will be.”

Hatcher said that even if Jones challenges Friday’s balloting, he will not let that interfere with the chapter’s operations.

“I’ll be president as long as I want to be, because the people know the amount of work, time and effort I put into running the branch, “ said Hatcher, an affirmative action officer for the U.S. Navy.

“The election in December and this election were both fair,” he said.

Mance also maintained that Friday’s election did not violate NAACP bylaws and the results are final.

Jones, a president of the chapter during the 1960s and 1970s, argued after the December election that the results were invalid because, among other problems, ballots were cast in two places on two different days and votes were not immediately counted as required.

In response to Jones’ complaint, national NAACP officials sent two conflicting letters to the local chapter. The first upheld the election, but a second said the election was invalid.

At its convention in July, the national board cited “numerous irregularities” and ordered a new election.

Jones, however, said that about 40 of the chapter’s members were not notified and that he did not have access to the branch’s membership roster.

Mance said the NAACP’s national office in Baltimore notified all Ventura County members of the election at his request.

Jones, whose left leg was amputated less than a month ago, has also maintained that Mance did not give him enough time to recuperate and campaign.

Jones did not vote Friday because his doctor told him not to leave his house. But in an interview, he said, “This thing will go forward. In no case will I acquiesce.”