An attempt was made by supporters of ANA to stop the March 24 vote from occurring through a legal challenge in federal court. That attempt failed as the judge refused to enjoin the MNA from holding the meeting. However, On March 23, the U.S. District Court issued an order prohibiting the MNA from finalizing the disaffiliation vote until making provision for an alternative or supplemental means of voting for those members who were disabled from attending the meeting because of work schedule or religious observance.

On Saturday, March 24 at 11 a.m., the MNA Board of Directors met and voted to provide a supplemental mail ballot for those members who were disabled from attending the special business meeting because of their work schedules or religious observance, in accordance with the court's order. Later that day, of the 2,338 members voting, 1,925 voted to disaffiliate from the ANA. That vote will become binding when the MNA has completed the supplemental vote.

On April 5, the MNA mailed a letter to all MNA members providing a process that will allow those members who couldn't vote because they were working on March 24 or those who couldn't attend for religious reasons to have the opportunity to vote. The letter includes a ballot, the full text of the motion on which the voting body voted at the special business meeting and an affidavit with an enclosed return envelope.

"If you were disabled by reason of work schedule or religious observance from attending the special business meeting on Saturday, March 24, we urge you to vote on this issue," said both Denise Garlick, MNA president, and Karen Higgins, chair of the MNA Labor Relations Cabinet.

To ensure the accuracy and integrity of the mail ballot, for an eligible member's vote to count, they are required to:

• To be a member in good standing on March 24.

• Complete an "affidavit" detailing the reasons for not being able to attend, with all statements made under the penalty of perjury. If a member couldn't vote due to work schedule conflict, they were required to indicate the facility where they worked, the unit on which they worked and the hours of their shift. Those with religious reasons were required to state their religion and denomination, as well as the specific religious observance that prevented them from attending the meeting.

• Mark and seal the ballot and affidavit in the return envelope.

• Stamp the envelope and write their return address on it.

• Return the envelope containing the ballot and affidavit to MNA, c/o the American Arbitration Association, postmarked no later than midnight, April 23, 2001.

The American Arbitration Association will oversee the counting of the ballots and certify the result. Any ballots returned to the American Arbitration Association postmarked after April 23 will not be counted. If for some reason you failed to receive the mailing with the ballot, you can call the American Arbitration Association at 617-451-6600 to request a replacement ballot. All such requests must be made before April 23 and all replacement ballots must be postmarked not later then April 23. Counting of the ballots will occur on April 30. The tally from the supplemental balloting will be added to the vote from the March 24 special business meeting to produce a final tally.

Please Note: Stamps were not provided on the return envelope for the mail ballot because the mailing went out to 20,000 members, with only a small portion of those members eligible to vote, which made the cost of stamping all envelopes prohibitive. Also, postage-paid envelopes could not be utilized because the post office does not apply postmarks to these envelopes. Given that there is a cutoff date of April 23 for return of the ballots to the American Arbitration Association, and that the postmark for that date will determine eligibility for a vote to count, MNA needed to ensure a postmark to maintain the integrity of the vote.

Please note: The initial supplemental ballot that was mailed on April 2 contained a typographical error. A second mailing with a corrected ballot on blue paper was immediately mailed to the membership. If you are eligible to vote by a supplemental mail ballot, you must use the blue ballot to cast your vote. If you have already sent in the first ballot, you must recast your vote on this blue ballot for it to count. If you haven't received a blue ballot, please contact the American Arbitration Association at 617.451.6600 to obtain a replacement ballot.