Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Collins keeps top post in NAACP

Incumbent Gene Collins retained the NAACP presidency Saturday in what election supervisors called one of the smoothest pollings of the organization in years.

National and regional representatives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People joined the local election supervisor, the Rev. Chester Richardson, in running the election.

"It was the smoothest election we've had in the eight years I've been in Las Vegas, or in the last 20 years when I helped out with the elections up in Reno," Richardson said. "We only had two contested ballots because of national records, but they were both lifetime members and we got that solved.

"I've seen elections where 200 ballots have been challenged, so it went very well."

Collins defeated former Assemblyman Lonie Chaney 159 to 155. Chaney had asked that a national representative be present for the election after questioning whether some membership applications had been properly dated, and if a group of as many as 150 to 300 potential voters had been members for the required 180 days needed to vote.

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