SAG Panel Says Errors to Force Election Rerun

In a decision likely to set off a new round of fighting within the already divided Screen Actors Guild, a union committee said late Monday that voting snafus were severe enough last fall to invalidate the union’s 2-month-old election results for its top three offices.

SAG officials said the development means that a new election will automatically take place.

Last fall’s vote saw moderate candidate Melissa Gilbert win handily over actress Valerie Harper in a bitter, high-profile race for president. Harper and others protested the election after questions about voting procedures surfaced.

The five-member committee, headed by Fred Savage, sharply criticized SAG’s staff and Sequoia Voting Systems, which was hired by SAG to run the election. Among the problems cited was giving New York members two days longer than others to return ballots, and the failure to include a signature line on ballots issued to New York members.

SAG officials refused to say anything else about the development. Neither Gilbert nor Harper could be reached for comment.

The two other offices affected are recording secretary, in which Elliott Gould won easily over Kevin Kilner, and treasurer, where Kent McCord won a narrow victory over Amy Aquino.

In making its decision, the committee said the voting irregularities may have affected the outcome of the election, which took place over several weeks last fall on a mail-in basis. Results were announced Nov. 2.

Gilbert’s election was considered significant because she campaigned on a moderate platform and was sharply critical of the previous regime headed by actor William Daniels, who led SAG on a six-month strike against advertisers in 2000. Harper openly supported Daniels’ policies, and promised to continue them if elected.

The fight over the election results caused yet another bitter split within SAG, which has been plagued by infighting for years.