Members of the GCIU have found they can count on the four men and one woman who serve on the Board of Electors (BOE) who have the job of safeguarding their democratic right to choose their leaders.

The Board of Electors tabulates the tens of thousands of ballots that are returned from Canada and the United States.

The board is chaired by Toronto 500M Executive Vice Pres. Frank O'Reilly and includes: Boston 600M Pres. George Carlsen, New York 1L Secy.-Treas. Anthony Caifano, Linda Bufford of Richmond 670C, and Newark 690S Pres. Bobby G. Whited.

In a post-election interview, O'Reilly revealed that, except for a few minor computer glitches, the counting went well despite the fact that, this year for the first time, the counting was done by computer instead of by hand.

But before the counting even began, the electors had to consider and decide such questions as whether to allow candidates' nomination statements and photos on the GCIU's Internet web site. It was a case of technological development outpacing the imagination of those who wrote the 1996 GCIU Constitution's provisions on elections.

The board decided that fairness would be best served by not allowing election articles on the web site although they had appeared in the Graphic Communicator.

But the increased use of the Internet by computer-savvy GCIUers ensures that the board's decision will have to be revisited before the next election, according to O'Reilly. "I don't believe the Internet played a big part in this election," said O'Reilly, "but in the future it could be more widespread and deserves attention."

There were other decisions about the validity of the ballots from local unions in arrears. The electors had to evaluate who was responsible for the arrears situation and try to protect the rights of the members.

When the ballot-counting began, the busy pace got even busier. The electors had to be present during all phases of the scanning and tallying procedures.

As the outer envelopes were opened and separated by local union, the Board of Electors supervised the crew from the contractor. And as the inner envelopes with the ballots were opened and scanned for votes, the electors watched every step of the process.

O'Reilly noted that there were inevitable questions during the counting process of approximately 26,000 ballots that electors had to decide on the spot.

"All in all, it went very well. I was a bit apprehensive because we had tried electronic balloting to choose delegates in Canada and it never worked. But except for a few minor computer glitches, it went well," O'Reilly said.

He praised the "hardworking" electors and the contractors who worked together to ensure that GCIU members got a fair and just election.

"I can't say enough about the board and the people who put it all together," he added. "We will make a few recommendations to the General Board that we think will improve the election process and leave it up to them," O'Reilly said.