For NAACP Fayette Branch Legal Redress Chair Geraldine Grant, it is about doing what is right.

And what she said was right was the Nov. 8 filing of a voter fraud complaint to the national NAACP office over the local branch election in November in which she and others ran for office. Her complaint has been dismissed by the national office, but Grant is appealing the decision.

“It is troubling and unacceptable when I am out as Legal Redress Chair defending the civil rights of others and am not treated with any fairness and civility within my own branch,” Grant said in the Nov. 8 complaint letter.

“I am hoping the leadership of the National NAACP will act promptly and swiftly to correct behavior and remove leaders on the local level who represent the organization in a bad light and give it a bad name. I believe in the saying, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ I have not seen evidence of this since my one year membership in the Fayette County Branch. How can I fight against violations by other races on people of color when my own African American race violates me and other African Americans in a simple branch election?” Grant said.

Contacted by The Citizen, Fayette Branch President John Jones said his only official comment on Grant’s complaint was that her concerns have been reviewed and investigated by the national office of the NAACP and were dismissed.

It is not about sour grapes, said Grant, who was running for branch president, since irregularities by the Fayette Branch leadership relating to the November election were communicated to the national headquarters in the days and weeks prior to the local branch election held Nov. 8.

A member of the Fayette Branch for more than a year, Grant said the reason she decided to run for the local president’s position was due to other irregularities she had witnessed since joining the Fayette Branch.

The Citizen has obtained copies of various documents relating to the voter fraud complaint and the dismissal decision by national NAACP.

Grant maintains her complaint is about upholding the guidelines set forth by the national organization pertaining to branch elections. Grant received notification Jan. 22 from NAACP National Senior Vice President for Field Operations & Membership Roger C. Vann saying that the complaint was being dismissed.

Grant said she supplied the evidence upon which the complaint was based, but was not told what portion of her evidence, or any other substantiating evidence from other sources, was used by the national office to reach the conclusions by which the complaint was dismissed.

The installation of officers, expected to occur Nov. 9, was put on hold until the complaint was assessed and subsequently dismissed.

Grant said she was in contact with the national office Jan. 30 and is expecting to be put on the agenda for the mid-February board meeting in Baltimore. National NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous and NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond are expected to be in attendance, she said.

Former Fayette Branch President Phyllis Blake said she had no comment on the matter, nor did Elections Supervisory Committee Chair Elverta Williams.

The 17-part voter fraud complaint on the November Fayette Branch election cites numerous irregularities said to be in violation of national guidelines through the actions of several Fayette Branch officers and members.

Among the irregularities reported in connection with the complaint was a failure to communicate the time/date parameters of the election in a timely manner or to properly advertise the election; not allowing all candidates to have access to the membership list until one week prior to the election; failure to allow candidates other than one of the parties named in the complaint to give campaign speeches at the Oct. 11 branch meeting; the late opening of the polls on election day; the absence of a sign-in list for voters; the action by one of the parties to allow three officers and members to engage in proxy voting; allowing ballots to be cast by some voters without providing any form of identification; allowing voters to be brought to the polling place without showing membership confirmation or identification; failure to announce the total number of votes cast; turning away some voters whose name did not appear on the voter list but who had proof of membership; failure to periodically audit the number of ballots during the voting period and not allowing voters to tear off the printed number of their ballot; failure to allow Grant’s teller, Evangelist Pamela Smith, or her watchers Shante Moore and Lavoya Williams to object to any action or challenge the eligibility of voters; and allowing members to linger in the polling place to socialize after voting and allowing one member to sell Belk’s department store coupons.

Evangelist Smith also completed a 12-part filing that was included in the Grant voter fraud complaint.

Grant concluded the complaint by asking for a resolution by the national organization and questioning the lack of fairness and equal treatment at the Fayette Branch.

Referencing the complaint filed with the national office, Grant insists that an attempt was first made locally to bring the matter to a conclusion.

“We wanted to resolve this before it got to state or national because the first thing is to resolve it in-house. We wanted (the responsible parties) to provide us with the list of names and membership showing that the people were qualified to vote in this election. If we were wrong, we would apologize. But that was not provided to us. That’s why we had to go to the next level. The by-laws state that if we have concerns we go to national,” Grant said.

In his Jan. 22 letter national Vice President Roger Vann noted five considerations under which Grant’s complaint had been dismissed.

Vann said that according to the records forwarded by the Fayette Branch Election Supervisory Chair, members only voted once and that Grant’s observer was present when members signed in.

He noted problems with the elections notices being mailed out, adding that a notice had been placed in the local media and that those seeking to run for office were allowed to do so. He said the polls opened five minutes late and the one person arriving during that time did vote.

Central to the issue of the number of ballots cast, Vann said, “There were 55 ballots cast, 32 of which were for John Jones and 23 for Geraldine Grant; of those there were seven for which, when questions were raised concerning their eligibility, the National Office had been contacted prior to the election and had provided a written response resulting in those votes being counted.”

The final consideration stated that, “As to other matters in your complaint, if true, the allegations made would not have affected the outcome of the election, and therefore the complaint is dismissed.”

Contacted Monday, national Unit Capacity Building Director Rev. Gill Ford said the outcome of the complaint issued by Vann was determined based upon how national conducts investigations.

“None of the points were sustained and the complaint was dismissed,” Ford said.

Supporting Grant in her complaint was long-time Fayette Branch WINN Committee Chair and Legal Redress Committee member Sheila Louder. Both Grant and Louder said they serve on the Fayette Branch Executive Board.

“I don’t have any problem telling the truth because that is what everything should be about. It should be based on the truth and on factual data, and I feel like I have data that I can contribute that can validate the egregious acts that I have seen occur,” Louder said. “And we’re talking about change being implemented in the United States with a new president. I feel change can only occur if we stand up to the plate and implement the change within our local branch.”

Perhaps as significant as any portion of the 17-part complaint was the insistence by Grant that proxy voting had occurred at the branch election and that at least one of the individuals voting in that manner acknowledged doing so in front of several branch members. Yet Grant maintains that national NAACP guidelines prohibit proxy voting. Louder and Rev. Gill Ford confirmed Monday that proxy voting was not allowed.

Grant said she is undeterred by the Jan. 22 response from Vann, insisting that she is still requesting an appropriate venue to have her complaint heard.

Regardless of the decision from the national office, Grant said she will not back off from her claim that voter fraud occurred and that justice inside the organization should be served. Grant said a communication with the national office Jan. 30 included the notification that she will be placed on the agenda for the mid-February meeting in Baltimore.

“... when I became a part of the Fayette Branch I was told there was a lot of racism going on in the community. And my thing was a person’s civil rights, regardless of color. I’m not saying there’s not racism on both sides, and there is. But my thing is for justice. And I feel that the NAACP is not above wrongdoing,” Grant said Jan. 30.

“And if I’m out there to fight for civil rights regardless of race or color, then I feel that if the NAACP is doing what is wrong then the NAACP should still have to answer, even if it is within my own branch. I’m waiting to speak with (national NAACP Chairman Dr. Benjamin) Jealous and with (board Chairman) Julian Bond. I hope the decision they make will be one where they take the time to look into this issue further. According to the proof I have, Vann and the others that reviewed the complaint did not take the time to look into it. They gave it a brush-off. As far as I’m concerned I will not fight for an organization that is corrupt and that will continue to do wrongdoing, but expect me to go out and fight for what’s right when they feel that someone else of color has been done wrong. That is not the way I would do it. I’m a person who feels that wrong is wrong and right is right, including in the NAACP, and I hope that (Jealous) will see that and will hear it from my point and see the facts we have and decide that voting fraud is not good and that it’s not right regardless whether it’s the NAACP or any organization. National’s response was that it is okay to continue to do the things that are wrong and it’s all right to vote more than once, for example. But according to national by-laws you’re not supposed to do proxy voting. NAACP needs to practice what they are preaching and do the right thing.”