It turns out Cincinnati is not the only city experiencing problems with elections: the same thing has happened in Dallas, Raleigh, and Pittsburgh -- indicating a national trend plaguing this historic organization just in time for Black history month.

In Cincinnati, the players are Edith Thrower, the incumbent, and challenger Christopher Smitherman, a former City Councilmember. Thrower is considered a well-connected member of the political establishment, while Smitherman is viewed as an independent with a reputation for speaking his mind. Does the political power structure want to ensure that a docile and well behaved insider gets the post when the national spotlight hits Cincinnati in 2008? And is the national NAACP complicit in this attempt to silence Smitherman, someone many characterize as an articulate and critical Black man?

The November election between Smitherman and Thrower was fraught with irregularities (so many, that Smitherman hired a lawyer to issue letters prior to the vote). After initial counts, Smitherman won. Then, things changed as a man named Victor Brown threw challenged ballots into a shoe box and waited several days to count them. When he finally did, the results changed, with Thrower winning by a single vote.

Sherrie Richardson, the Cincinnati NAACP's newly elected secretary, says Victor Brown had a list of challenged voters, which numbered at over 40 -- but when Brown released his recount, it only included 24 ballots. She also says Brown took challenged voters into his office for private meetings, which could be viewed as potential intimidation.

Marian Spencer, the first female president of the Cincinnati NAACP, thought the election procedures were questionable at best. "The challenged votes were in a white cardboard shoe box that wasn’t sealed," said Spencer. "They were available for use, misuse or abuse. [Victor Brown] said later that he didn’t take them home and left them at the branch, but who knows where they were? Nobody but him."

James Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, also thought the proceedings were dubious. "It just didn’t seem right for him to give those ballots to Victor Brown -- one person -- to hold until such time that the election was confirmed," explains Clingman. "I said, why would you let the balance of this election rest in the hands of one person?"

Victor Brown did not respond to messages left at the NAACP office.

As Black history month gets into gear, Cincinnati NAACP members are still waiting, seven weeks after this contested election. A new president still hasn't been named. The national NAACP office intervened and said they would make a decision, but what is taking them so long? How difficult is it to determine whether organization by-laws were followed, and whether the election and recount were conducted appropriately?

The national NAACP says they are getting lots of calls, but they are reluctant to provide any further details -- simply claiming more time is needed.

For critics, it looks like the national NAACP is playing politics with the upcoming convention during a presidential election year in Ohio -- which was the swing-state in 2004, after all. It's ironic that an organization with a reputation for protecting civil rights would get bogged down in accusations of election fraud.