The national NAACP has scheduled new elections for the Anne Arundel County branch leadership this month after the results of the last race were thrown into question by charges of fraud.
Local NAACP members will cast new ballots for director and 27 other local leadership posts May 17, said Gerald Stansbury, who lost his bid in November to unseat director Jean Creek.
Mr. Stansbury has been fighting for a new election since his 11-vote defeat, alleging that the Creek campaign held onto county membership lists until the day before voters went to the polls -- too late to be useful.
"We'll be able to reach all the members this time, which is going to make all the difference," Mr. Stansbury said.
Ms. Creek has denied withholding any information from Mr. Stansbury and has said that he could have gotten complete membership lists from election supervisors at any point during the campaign.
Ms. Creek has said that she supported Mr. Stansbury's efforts to toss out the November election and that a new election would enable her to reach voters enlisted by her opponent whose names were not forwarded to her campaign.
Some of Ms. Creek's supporters say the new election will benefit the incumbent and enable her to win the top post by a large margin instead of a handful of votes.
"As a matter of fact I think the outcome will be very favorable," said James Stroud, who campaigned for Ms. Creek last fall. "The last time we didn't have time to drum up any support, but now we've got plenty of lead time before the election date."
Mr. Stansbury said he and his supporters will mail campaign literature to 400 members in the county and will try to reach as many as 1,500 more local members when the national NAACP releases updated voter lists.
The national headquarters has dispatched Keith Jones, an NAACP official based in New Jersey, to monitor the new election, Stansbury said. Efforts to reach Mr. Jones and other national NAACP officials Friday were unsuccessful.
Last fall's election was uncharacteristically fiery, and the new election is likely to be just as hot.
Ms. Creek alleged Mr. Stansbury was backed for the post by powerful black politicians who hoped to control him. Mr. Stansbury countered that Ms. Creek was an out-of-touch leader who had allowed the local branch to lose power on key political issues involving race and discrimination.
Both campaigns called in supervisors from the NAACP's national office in Baltimore to oversee the last election. Ms. Creek's slate won four of seven local leadership positions and 14 of 24 executive committee posts.
The new election will be held at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Jennifer Road in Annapolis. The polls will be open from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
