E-mail 'gaffe' dogs SAG election

Results of the fresh election will be announced in April

An e-mail gaffe has embroiled the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in controversy as it seeks to rerun an election for a new president, according to reports.

The union was forced to hold the election again, which put former Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert in office, after it emerged voters in New York were given an extra two days to return their votes.

Valerie Harper, who starred in US show Rhoda, was her main rival and is also in the running again.

But preparations for the second election have been thrown into disarray after a senior executive at SAG sent an e-mail endorsing Gilbert's candidacy, reports trade newspaper Variety.

'Technical flaws'

Election rules allow only candidates to send e-mails to SAG members.

The e-mail, written by first vice-president Mike Farrell, said the decision by the National Elections Committee to rerun the election was "pathetic" and that the voting violations were "technical flaws", reports Variety.

The e-mail could leave room for the rerun election to be contested again once the results are known on 8 March.

The first election is already the subject of a United States Department of Labor investigation.

Five SAG members who wanted the original result to stand complained to the Department of Labor, according to industry newspaper the Hollywood Reporter.

The department does not have the power to stop the re-election, but could take charge for a third election, depending on the results of its investigation, the paper said.

The dispute has damaged the image of the Hollywood union in the eyes of many observers and left it plagued with internal bickering.