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2024 BALLOT COUNT DAY PROCEDURES

2024 BALLOT COUNT DAY PROCEDURES

June 26, 2024
To enable a fair and unimpeded ballot count, the Election Committee has implemented the following count day procedures. The procedures are intended solely to enable the timely and proper count of the ballots. The ballot count is scheduled to take place on June 27, 2024.

  • AAA will be at the United States Post Office at 160 1st Street, Mineola, NY, at 11 o’clock a.m. to retrieve the ballots. Any previously designated slate representative and/or candidate for position of delegate may appear and attend at the post office to observe the collection of the ballots by AAA. The ballots shall be immediately transported by AAA to Jericho Terrace, 249 Jericho Turnpike, Mineola, NY, and upon arrival, begin the process of checking the ballots against the membership list.
  • Only members of COBA, AAA and its designees (including the ballot scanning
    personnel), and the Election Committee’s advisors, shall be permitted in the ballot count room. The COBA Sergeant-at-Arms shall be responsible for maintaining order.
  • The ballot count room at Jericho Terrace shall have a cordoned area for AAA, the ballot scanning machines/staff, the Election Committee and its advisors, and the designated slate representatives. Each slate may designate up to, and not more than, three representatives who may rotate in attendance within the cordoned area during the ballot count. No other persons shall be permitted in the cordoned area absent permission of the Election Committee Chairperson. Jericho Terrace shall also have an ante-room for the Arbitrator to hear and consider appeals, access to which shall be at the discretion of the Arbitrator.
  • In the event AAA identifies a ballot that includes extraneous markings that make the voter’s intention unclear, or if there are any other reasons that AAA requires a determination from the Election Committee regarding a particular ballot, AAA shall present the ballot to the Election Committee. The Election Committee shall decide whether the voter’s intention can be objectively determined, or not, based solely on a review of the ballot. The Election Committee’s ruling shall be promptly disclosed to all slate representatives and, if appropriate, to the affected delegate candidate if in attendance, each of whom shall have a right to immediately protest the Election Committee’s decision regarding the identified ballot.
  • All protests to election day actions by the Election Committee, or protests to any other alleged improper mail ballot count-day conduct, shall be filed with the Election Committee by completing the “2024 Ballot Count Day Protest/Appeal” Form (the “Form”) which shall be available in the ballot count room at Jericho Terrace. The Form shall require the protestor to include on the Form: his/her name, his/her Shield number, his/her assigned Command, a written detail of the alleged improper conduct, and his/her signature. The completed Form shall be delivered to a member of the Election Committee or its advisers who, upon receipt of the Form, shall indicate next to the protestor’s signature, the time when delivered/received.
  • Upon receipt of the Form, the Election Committee shall convene and determine the protest as presented, shall indicate the Decision of the Election Committee on the Form, and the Chairperson of the Election Committee shall sign and date stamp the form. A member of the Election Committee or its designee shall deliver the Form back to the protestor for purposes of disclosing the Election Committee’s determination, and the protestor shall have the right to appeal to the Arbitrator the decision of the Election Committee. The notice of appeal shall be exercised by executing the Form at the bottom thereof and time stamping the protestor/appellant’s signature. Upon notification of the Election Committee’s determination of the protest, and in the absence of the protestor immediately signing the Form for purposes of appeal, the protest shall be deemed decided and concluded. If the protestor executes and time stamps the Form indicating a desire to appeal the Election Committee’s decision, a member of the Election Committee or its designee shall bring the Form (and if the protest relates to a specific ballot, the ballot), to the Arbitrator for determination of the appeal. The Election Committee member or its designee shall thereafter retain the Form, and if the protest relates to a specific ballot, shall deliver the subject ballot back to AAA.
  • At the conclusion of the ballot count, AAA shall deliver the results to the Election Committee who shall review and certify the results. Upon certification, the Election Committee Chairperson shall announce the results. In addition, the results shall be posted on the COBA website as soon as reasonably practicable.
  • The forgoing procedures supplement the COBA Constitution and By-Laws, and the 2024 Supplemental Rules & Election Procedure, as amended. Any conflict by and among the foregoing shall be determined by the Election Committee based on customary and ordinary rules of procedure.

 

Respectfully,
COBA Election Committee
Anthony Scoma, Chairperson – CIB
Sherida Williams – NIC
Stephanie Nagengast – GRVC
Christopher Obando – SOD
Jeremy Machado – BHPW

LETTER FROM BENNY BOSCIO
President

Welcome to the official website of The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (COBA). COBA is the second-largest law enforcement union in the City of New York. Our members are New York City Correction Officers, also known as New York City’s Boldest, who supervise the second-largest municipal jail system in the nation. COBA is committed to advocating for safer working conditions, wage increases, and excellent benefits for all our members.

Our website was designed to provide helpful information on the latest issues impacting our members and their families. You can also find our official union publications, news clips, and learn about upcoming events.

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STATEMENT FROM COBA PRESIDENT BENNY BOSCIO ON THE FEDERAL MONITOR'S SPECIAL REPORT RELEASED ON MAY 26, 2023

“After being appointed nearly 8 yrs ago and receiving some $20 million in consulting fees by NYC taxpayers, the latest Federal Monitor’s biased and one-sided “special report” is no different than the nearly 36 reports that came before it.

If the Monitor is interested in cherry picking data in a two week period, why then does he exclude the brazen assaults on our officers committed by repeat violent offenders in that same period? Or why does he exclude the numbers of inmates whose lives have been saved thanks to Correction Officers? The reality is that the Federal Monitor and his team have strayed very far from their original mission and this new report conveniently excludes key data showing any progress that is being made to combat jail violence, which is largely the result of the dedication and hard work of our officers serving on the frontlines.

These reports now serve only to provide politically-driven talking points for the City Council and the Board of Correction so they can continue to second guess and scapegoat our members, instead of providing oversight over the monitoring team and asking them what have they really accomplished in eight years to make our jails safer? It’s time for the Monitoring team to go!’

Benny Boscio
COBA President