NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

 Report of the 1999 Committee on Elections
 
Denver, Colorado May 1, 1999

TO:      NRA Annual Meeting of Members

     The Bylaws of the Association designate the NRA Committee on Elections as being responsible for the conduct of the election of Directors. The Committee selected the firm of Deloitte & Touche, one of the international "Big 6" accounting firms, to assist with the election. The Committee also selected the document- imaging services of Copy General Corporation in Sterling, Virginia, to optically scan the ballots.

     The detailed procedures to maintain control over the ballots, determine their validity, and assure accurate scanning and tabulation were described to Committee members prior to the beginning of ballot tabulation. The procedures assured compliance with all provisions of the NRA Bylaws, and the Committee met with both Deloitte & Touche and Copy General to confirm that all requirements were being met. Deloitte & Touche have certified these results.

     A total of 1,270,784 ballots were mailed to eligible voting members of the Association for the election of twenty-five Directors for three-year terms ending in 2002 and one Director for a term ending in 2000. A total of 114,053 ballots (9.0%) were cast by eligible members. All ballots received were valid except for a total of 4,573 (4.0%) that were judged invalid for the following reasons:
Ballots with over 26 votes 3,261
Ballots returned non-deliverable 739
Ballots received after the April 11, 1999 deadline     231
Ballots returned unmarked 78
Ballots not properly authenticated 33
Other invalid ballots 231
     A total of 984 ballots included write-in votes or a combination of write-in votes and votes for candidates on the printed ballot. In no instance did a write-in candidate receive as many votes as any candidate on the printed ballot. No write-in candidate received 250 or more votes.

     In accordance with Article VIII, Section 2, of the Bylaws, as Chairman of the Committee on Elections, I declare the following members to have been elected Directors of the NRA for three-year terms ending in 2002, to take office from the adjournment of this meeting:
 
1 . Barbara A. Phillips 88,186
2. Peter J. "Jay" Printz 87,647
3. Diana Dunigan 83,569
4. David A. Oliver 82,211
5. Thomas P. Arvas 81,676
6. David E. Bennett III 80,943
7. Todd J. Rathner 80,214
8. Harry D. Thomas 80,150
9. Kayne B. Robinson 79,572
10. Carl Rowan, Jr. 79,303
11. Roy Innis 79,135
12. Allan D. Cors 78,702
13. Patricia A. Clark 78,070
14. John L. Cushman 76,782
15. Sanford M. Abrams 76,461
16. Hervert A. Lanford, Jr.             76,113
17. H. T. Davison 76,010
18. John J. Thompson 75,683
19. Philip Hemphill 75,660
20. Donn C. DiBiasio 75,498
21. John C. Sigler 74,576
22. Kirk W. Stanley 74,091
23. Ernie Padgette 73,895
24. H. J. "Walt" Walter      72,994
25. Dave Workman 71,951

and for a one-year term ending in 2000:
 
26. Raymond W. Cahen                  71,033
27. Robin L. Sharpless 69,194

     Dr. Robert J. Veazie resigned from the NRA Board of Directors on March 1, 1999. At the time, the ballots had been printed and the election process had already begun. As Dr. Veazie's term did not expire until 2000 his name did not appear on the ballot. Therefore, an additional one year vacancy exists in the Board upon adjournment of this meeting.

     The NRA Bylaws state that vacancies in the Board shall be filled by persons who ran and lost on the most recent mail ballot in rank order. Since a vacancy will exist upon the adjournment of this meeting, the 27th candidate, Mr. Robin L. Sharpless, becomes a member of the Board and serves until the adjournment of the next Annual Meeting of Members (May 20, 2000).

The remaining candidates on the ballot are as follows:
 
28. Sally Drews Brodbeck             39,853
29. Glen I. Vorhees, Jr. 36,920
30. Robert E. Hodgdon 35,827
31. Frank H. Sawberger 33,538
32. Albert C. Ross 33,523
33. William Dominguez 33,069
34. Thomas L. Seefeldt 32,602
35. Fred E. Gustafson 32,521
36. Daniel B. Fiora 31,048
37. David M. Gross 30,740
38. John H. Trentes 30,545
39. Don Saba 29,833
40. Michael S. Kindberg 29,499
41. Michael J. Beko 29,295
42. Michael D. Yacino 27,207
43. Howard J. Fezell 25,234

     One Director will be elected each year for a one-year term by those members present and voting at the Annual Meetings, who have attained the age of 18 years, are citizens of the United States, and whose fully-paid membership was received by the Secretary on or before March 12, 1999. This includes not only lifetime members and annual members with five or more consecutive years of membership who were eligible to vote in the mail elections, but all annual members present as well. Candidates for the election at this Annual Meeting of Members are those candidates who had been nominated previously for the mail election of Directors and who failed to be elected.

     Voting for this additional Director began Friday at 9:00 am in the Membership Verification Room and will close today at 4:00 pm or upon the adjournment of this Annual Meeting of Members, whichever is later. The results will be announced this evening at the Members Banquet, and will also be published in the Official Journal along with this Report.

     A total of 1,270,784 ballots were mailed to eligible voting members of the Association for a proposed Bylaws amendment to Art. VIII, Sec. 3(e) that would guarantee the right of all NRA members to have the Nominating Committee Report published in the Official Journal, that would also authorize any candidate to designate the method or methods of nomination in her or his biographical sketch, and would also authorize the inclusion of such information in paid advertisements. A total of 109,400 ballots were cast by eligible members. All of the ballots received were valid except for a total of 1,398 that were judged invalid for the following reasons:
 
Ballots returned non-deliverable 739
Ballots received after the April 11, 1999 deadline 231
Ballots returned unmarked (no votes) or voted for both yes and no             372
Ballots not properly authenticated 33
Other invalid ballots 23

Official tabulation: YES NO
99,398 8,604

     Therefore, in accordance with Article XV, Section 4, of the Bylaws, as Chairman of the Committee on Elections, I declare the Bylaws amendment adopted.
 

Respectfully submitted,
 
Howard W. Pollock
Chairman

1999 COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
Howard W. Pollock, Chairman
Adrian T. Myers
James D. Ramm.
Edward J. Land, Jr., Secretary