Animal protection society: suspicion of voting rigged during the election

Wednesday evening should have put an end to the clans war which agitated the Geneva animal protection company (SPA) for months. It’s missed. The extraordinary general assembly which was to elect the new committee led to suspicions of the urns stuffing. Everything indicates that civil justice will be seized, undoubtedly extending several months the instability at the head of the association.

The committee dismissed in July was represented. He was facing a list led by Manuel Tornare, the former mayor of the city of Geneva. According to “Léman Bleu” and the “Tribune de Genève”, the former team won by 220 votes against 197. In short, 417 members expressed themselves. But a big problem quickly appeared. Only 373 bulletins were said to have been distributed. The calculation is simple: if it is true, 44 votes would be vitiated.

The president of the SPA, Pierre de Loës, and his vice-president, Henri Balladur, who was making a new mandate, have not yet responded to the requests, unlike Manuel Tornare, who tells the scene. “I controlled the count with Henri Balladur, appointed for the other list. One of the bailiffs then said that there were 417 cheated ballots, while only 373 had been distributed. The second bailiff agreed. This difference challenges. So I do not assert, but I ask the question: was there a stuffing of the ballot boxes? With the contents of sealed ballot boxes, I told myself that we had won. Then, last, the contents of a Migros bag was stripped, and the result changed. We are going to appeal, and this procedure will say if there has been a jerk of the ballot boxes or not. ”

It is the civil court of first instance which is competent to judge such an associative dispute. It is usual that it flows several months before it makes its decision, unless the case is clear and can easily decide with an accelerated procedure.

For the rest, both Manuel Tornare as an employee present on the spot (the media were not allowed to attend the session) describe an evening marked by a tense atmosphere, even at times hysterical, enamelled with noisy reactions and interjections of certain members.

Manuel Tornare, he would like to bring calm. “You have to talk to yourself. This clan struggle is not fine. We must recognize the goodwill of all parties. I even proposed to Henri Balladur to build a list with people from the two camps. ” Basically, he insists: “I want to know if the standards of animal welfare are respected and if the supervision is sufficient.”