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Election procedures

The two basic requirements for the actual conduct of the election are contained in Appendix D, Section 2, sub-section F, of the International Constitution:

  1. “Election shall be by secret ballot.”
  2. “All local union members shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to vote.”

Some locals use elaborate voting booths or even curtained voting machines to ensure secrecy of the ballot. Others provide seating space at isolated tables. Others use even less complicated methods. Almost any method which affords the voter the opportunity to mark the ballot without any other person observing how the voter marks it is acceptable. After the voter marks the ballot, the voter deposits it in a ballot box or other container where it is mixed with the ballots cast by others so the voter’s right to secrecy is preserved.

How the second requirement is met will depend on a local’s size, whether its members work on more than one shift or in more than one location, as well as a number of other factors.

For comparatively small locals where everybody works a day shift, it is a common and completely acceptable practice to conduct the election during a membership meeting. For larger locals this system may not work.

While it is possible to hold an election during a meeting in a local of 20 people, all of whom know each other, it is quite something else to try to do the same thing in a meeting attended by several hundred members. In the case of these larger locals, it is necessary to set up specified hours of voting and function on a basis similar to the holding of an election for public office. It is essential, of course, that a record be kept of which members voted — both to avoid having someone vote twice and to avoid giving ballots to nonmembers. To avoid these problems, it is necessary to work from an up-to-date membership listing and require each voter to (1) provide identification and (2) sign for the ballot.

In the case of locals that have members working around the clock (hospital locals, correctional or other institutional locals, police locals, etc.), the problem is still greater. In those situations, the voting hours must be of sufficient length to allow members on all shifts “a reasonable opportunity to vote.”

If more than one voting location is to be used, great care must be taken to see that each member votes in only one location. This may mean breaking the membership list down by job location. It may also mean frequent telephone contacts between one location and another or to the chairperson of the election committee for the purpose of updating a master list.

These problems for large locals and for shift-work locals can be solved. Three kinds of “solutions” that are occasionally attempted, however, are prohibited:

  1. There can be no proxy voting. No member can cast a vote for another member.
  2. Mail ballots cannot be used for those who are on duty during voting hours. Balloting by mail must be done by all members or by none.
  3. There can be no “absentee” voting. In the rare instances where this has been tried, it has been found that the practice lends itself to such abuses that the International Executive Board has ruled against its use altogether.

Occasionally a problem will arise concerning a person who attempts to vote and there is doubt as to the person’s eligibility. Challenges can be raised concerning the eligibility of a prospective voter either by a member of the election committee who is present or by an observer representing one of the candidates. It is up to the election committee to resolve the matter.

The prospective voter may, for instance, not be listed on the membership roster and yet still claim to be a member. If the person can produce evidence of dues payment — a stub from a current salary check showing checkoff of dues, or a receipt for current dues issued by the local, for example — the matter can probably be settled on the spot and a ballot issued. If it is a matter requiring further investigation or additional evidence, which cannot be produced immediately, the person should be permitted to mark a ballot and then seal it in an envelope with the person’s name on the outside. This envelope should then be placed in the ballot box or in a separate container until the challenge is resolved.

At the time for the closing of the polls, anyone standing in line to vote should be permitted to do so. Anyone arriving after that time will have lost the opportunity to vote.

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