he State Board of Mediation determines the appropriateness of bargaining units of employees based on whether these employees share interests. The Board determines the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in a particular unit by conducting a secret ballot election.
Mail Ballot Voting Election Process
- Directed Election or Stipulated Election: If the Board’s decision orders an election to be held, that election will normally be held within 45 days from the date of the decision, constituting a Directed Election. A conference call will be scheduled within a week after the decision has been issued to set up the time and date of the election.
If during the initial conference call, the parties have reached an agreement on the bargaining unit without having to go to a hearing, they will stipulate to the election. The procedures are similar on all cases
-
Conference call: Parties will meet with the State Board of Mediation by telephone or in-person to discuss the details of the upcoming election. The voter list is due 10 days from the date the decision was issued. If during this call parties decide the best route to take for conducting the election is to hold a mail ballot election the process is a bit different from a typical election. The parties will discuss the process of conducting the mail ballot election, including the best time to mail the ballots and when they will be due back to the State Board of Mediation. The following is the Mail Ballot Process suggested by the Board. The parties may agree to modify this process, subject to the approval of the Chairman or other Authorized Representative of the Board.
-
Voter List and Mailing Labels: Once the Board has received the voter list and mailing labels from the employer, the voter list will be supplied to the other party(s). This list will be used at the election count as well as when the ballots are being returned through the mail.
-
Notice of Election: For a mail ballot election, the Notice of Election will indicate the date the ballots will be mailed to the unit employees, the period of time when the employees can call in to the State Board of Mediation to request a ballot if they did not receive theirs within a week of the ballots being mailed, the date the ballots must be in possession of the State Board of Mediation and the date the ballots will be counted
-
Ballots Mailed: Ballots will be mailed from the State Board of Mediation on the date stipulated to by the parties. The envelope mailed to each employee will contain the following: 1) Instruction letter on how to cast their vote; 2) Envelope “A” – secret ballot envelope; 3) Envelope “B” – Business Reply envelope which the voters will place Envelope “A” in and mail back to us. On the back of Envelope “B” is information that ALL voters must complete for their ballot to be valid and counted. They must put their name – printed and signed; their job classification; date; and where they work whether it is for a specific division, institution, or department.
- Call-ins for Ballots not received by voters : The voters will be allowed to call in for a duplicate ballot packet if they did not received theirs prior to the date stipulated to – typically 5 working days after ballots were mailed. They will have a period of 3-5 days that they can call in to the State Board of Mediation to request another ballot packet be mailed to them.
- As Ballots are Mailed back in: All ballots returned will be date stamped as they are received, alphabetized, and checked off against the voter list previously provided by the employer.
- Observers: Each party is allowed an observer if they choose to be present at the election count to assist the Authorized Officer with the count.
- Observers at Election Site: Upon arrival of the observers at the count site, they will be given a list of instructions for them to follow, once they have had the opportunity to read over the list, the Authorized Officer will then swear the observers in.
- Counting the Ballots: All ballots to be counted are ones that were received by the State Board of Mediation by the date selected and stipulated to by all parties. Ballots will be handled in this manner:
- Once the parties have agreed to the ballots to be counted, the Authorized Officer conducting the mail ballot election count will open Envelope B of the valid ballots and separate the inside envelope from the Envelope B and placed in a box for mixing.
- After ALL the Envelope B’s have been opened the Authorized Office will then open Envelope A and separate the ballot from the envelope. The ballots will be placed in the ballot box and Envelope A will be set aside.
- The Authorized Officer will now begin counting the ballots from the ballot box.
- Voting: The Authorized Officer will conduct the election count under “laboratory conditions” so that the opportunities for filing objects are at a minimum. The Officer is to maintain control over the observers and the counting area at all times.
- Tally of Ballots: The Authorized Officer is responsible for completing the Tally of Ballots form once the count is complete. Each of the party's representatives will receive a copy. If there is no one there for a party, it will be mailed to that party.
- Ten Day Letter: This letter is provided to each parties’ representative advising them that they have ten (10) business days after the tally of ballots has been furnished to the parties to file with the board any objections they may have to the conduct of the election or conduct affecting the results of the election.
- Objections to Conduct of Election: Within ten (10) business days after the tally of ballots has been furnished to the parties, any party may file with the board objections to the conduct of the election or conduct affecting the results of the election. If objections are filed the Chairman shall investigate them, if necessary, the Chairman will set a hearing to make a decision on the objections.
- Certification of Election Results: If no objections have been filed, the Chairman of the State Board of Mediation will certify the election results following the ten (10) day objection period.