DETROIT — UAW President Ray Curry, who trails as the ultimate votes are being counted within the union’s first direct election of management, has filed a protest saying hundreds of members had been disenfranchised and that the winner of 1 regional director race was ineligible.

Curry’s crew, in an announcement Friday, mentioned there are “a variety of vital points which have come to mild lately that decision the election into query and require fast investigation.” Curry trails challenger Shawn Fain in a runoff that has been unsettled for 2 weeks whereas officers work to confirm greater than 1,600 challenged ballots.

Fain has all however claimed victory within the race, which is being overseen by the federal monitor that was a situation of the UAW’s corruption settlement with the Division of Justice. The monitor has not launched an replace on the vote rely, however Fain’s camp, which has observers within the room the place the tally is going on, mentioned he leads by 505 votes with fewer than 600 challenged ballots left.

“By now the writing is on the wall: Change is coming to the UAW,” Fain mentioned in an announcement late Thursday.

Curry, in the meantime, argues that “tens of hundreds of ballots” had been returned to the union as undeliverable and questioned whether or not the monitor’s workplace made “all affordable efforts” to make sure these members may vote.

Curry additionally is looking into query the validity of Daniel Vicente’s victory as director of Area 9, which represents staff in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Curry argues that Vicente was not in a position to run as a result of he had not paid the dues essential to be a UAW member in good standing till after the unique November vote.

Curry additionally says marketing campaign guidelines weren’t constantly enforced and that marketing campaign donations to his opponent got here from employers with whom the union has a bargaining relationship, which might be in opposition to the foundations.

“All members of the UAW need to know that this election is untainted as they enter one of the essential intervals of their union’s historical past,” Curry’s crew mentioned in its assertion. “There should be certainty and above all confidence within the voting course of throughout this important time.”

Curry’s camp didn’t publicly elevate any considerations concerning the first spherical of voting, when he narrowly led Fain however didn’t obtain a majority, or in the course of the two-week halt to the runoff vote rely, although Curry had beforehand complained about some donations to Fain’s marketing campaign.

Fain’s Unite All Staff for Democracy reform slate is on tempo to win each seat it contested. Already, 5 UAWD candidates have been put in on the union’s Worldwide Government Board, together with one other reform candidate who ran as an unbiased. Vicente and Fain would give reformers a majority on the 14-person board.