What the recertification count might be or how it might impact the outcome is anyone's guess. The previous vote count had given the day to the credit union by only 18 votes, or one-half of 1%, by far the closest charter change vote in credit union history. It is possible the review will find a larger margin of victory for the CU, but it's also possible the new results might find the members who opposed the conversion victorious.

While the decertification drew generally muted reaction from the industry as it waits for the new vote count, it was enough to draw Lafayette CEO Michael Hearne at least partially out of his media silence.

Hearne gave interviews to the Montgomery County Gazette, a local paper that focuses on the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Montgomery County, where many of Lafayette members live, and to the American Banker, a trade journal serving the U.S. banking industry. Hearne used the interviews to defend the CU's attempt to become a mutual bank and to attack the CU's critics, charging them with being part of an industry effort to derail these sorts of conversions.

Significantly, and ironically, Hearne used the American Banker interview to offer remorse for not having spoken more with the media through the charter change process.

"I probably, in hindsight, should have spoken to the press a little more, or at least taken a little bit more of a lead in getting our word out there," the paper reported. The paper also reported he "rebuffed" suggestions from members who opposed the credit union's charter change that the credit union had intentionally misled any of them about the fate of the CU's branches inside federal buildings where many of the CU's members work. No matter the outcome of the charter change, Hearne said he expected Lafayette to keep its federal branches.

Reporters who called Hearne's office seeking comments about whether the CU had a plan in place for what to do if the recertification finds a change in the overall election outcome were told Hearne was not available and the calls were not returned as of press time.

Credit unions will never get the sort of regulatory relief they seek so Lafayette was merely trying to get ahead of the curve with its charter change, Hearne suggested to the paper.

Credit unions may never "get the kind of regulatory relief we've been working towards," he said. "So we've decided, 'Let's take this upon ourselves and change our charter now, while we're in good financial shape, rather than later, when we are forced to.'"

Losing tax-exempt status would be the most significant drawback of a conversion, but it is not a deal-stopper, Hearne said.

"Right now we've got about $6 or $7 million laying around doing nothing because regulatorily, as a credit union…we've got to keep a couple million on deposit, not earning any interest," he said. "So we're already paying that tax," the paper quoted him as saying.

RSM McGladrey has remained silent about what it found in the review that led it to conclude that the vote's outcome might be different, but sources familiar with the situation noted that members, and presumably NCUA, had raised questions about both how long the firm was supposed to have accepted ballots and whether or not the CU had told members that they could vote in branches.

The National Cooperative Business Association, which is on record as opposing credit union conversions generally and Lafayette's in particular, is the only organization to go on the record with a comment about McGaldrey's move. Paul Hazen, the president/CEO of the organization commended McGladrey for withdrawing the certification and expressed confidence in the outcome.

"We are confident that if a new election is needed that members with access to full information and a fair voting process would overwhelmingly vote to keep their member owned credit union," Hazen said.

Members opposed to the conversion have generally not commented on the move except to note that they were not surprised. "Most of us are just waiting to find out what we might have to do next," one said. –[email protected]