Official Rules for 2021 Chapter Elections
A. General Rules
1. Chapter-wide officers shall be elected in May to three-year terms.
2. The election for chapter officers shall be conducted virtually at the Chapters meeting via Zoom.
3. There must be fifteen (15) days’ notice prior to the holding of nominations. The nomination notice must include date, time, list of positions to be filled, and place where nominations shall be received. Such notice shall be by publication in The Unionist or by any written leaflet distributed to membership in the work locations or mailed to the membership.
4. All Chapter officers must be elected by the majority of validly cast ballots.
5. No funds of SSEU Local 371 or any affiliate body shall be used to support the candidacy of any member for any elective office within the local.
6. No publication sponsored by SSEU Local 371 or any affiliate body shall endorse or support any candidate for elective office within the local.
7. Any nominee for elective office shall have the right, once prior to the election, to have mailed to each member in good standing, through the Union Office, but at private expense, campaign literature.
8. Messages on the Union website (mightyunion.org) for two consecutive work days will constitute official notice to all candidates. It will be the responsibility of all candidates to check the website regularly in order to keep themselves informed. Official notice can also be sent by letter to the candidate’s home.
9. Membership in good standing commences when a worker is on union dues check-off, or when a worker is on “agency shop fees” deduction to the local and his/her union enrollment card has been received in the Union Office. Membership in good standing is established by direct payment of dues to the Union. Dues are payable monthly in advance.
B. Elections Committee
1. The Secretary-Treasurer’s office shall administer the elections with the assistance of the Central Election Committee (CEC). The CEC is composed of two representatives from each chapter with the Secretary-Treasurer serving as chairperson. However, no candidate may serve as a member of the CEC in any election in which he or she is a candidate.
2. The CEC shall remain neutral on all issues and candidates.
C. Nomination Rules
1. Nominations shall be the first order- of business of any nominating meeting.
2. Any member in good standing for six months on the date of nomination may run for chapter office.
3. Any member may nominate himself or herself or any other member. No second is required. The nominee need not be present. A quorum is not required at this meeting.
4. A motion to close nominations is always out of order. Nominations for each office are closed only after three consecutive calls for “other nominations” go unanswered.
5. No further nominations will be accepted after the close of nominations.
6. Those nominated shall be given an opportunity to decline. Upon receiving the names of the nominees, the Secretary-Treasurer will attempt to notify each nominee. If a nominee does not decline, in writing, it will be presumed that he or she has accepted said nomination.
7. In any case where there is only one nominee for each open office, such unopposed candidate or candidates shall be declared elected, provided they fulfill all requirements for office. In all other cases, elections shall be by secret ballot.
D. Voting Rules
1. Only members in good standing may vote.
2. Absentee or proxy voting is prohibited.
3. A standard ballot form shall be used.
4. Unless there has been fifteen (15) days’ advance notice of the election, there shall be a minimum of twenty (20) days between the mailing of the ballots and their return date. Therefore, the ballot itself constitutes fifteen days’ notice of election.
5. Each candidate shall be entitled to have a representative (who must be an AFSCME member) as an observer at each step of the voting process.
E. Voting Procedures
1. Rules for marking and casting a ballot shall be included with the ballot or printed on the ballot itself.
F. Counting Rules
1. All Chapter-wide election ballots shall be counted at the Union office.
2. Each candidate has a right to one (1) representative (who must be an AFSCME member) to be present at all phases of this election.
3. Write-in votes, blank ballots, and signed ballots are void.
4. The candidate for each office receiving a majority of the votes cast for that office shall be declared elected.
5. In the event no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for the office he/she is running for, a run-off election shall be held between the two candidates receiving the most votes.
6. In case of a tie, a run-off shall be had at the insistence of any involved candidate. Any alternate method acceptable to all the candidates is permissible (e.g. lot, flipping of a coin, drawing straws, etc.).
G. Protest and Appeals
1. Protests must be received in writing by the chairperson of the Central Election Committee (the Secretary-Treasurer) within ten (10) days of the completion of the election.
2. Upon receiving a protest, the CEC shall afford all interested parties an opportunity to be heard, and a decision will be made in writing within thirty (30) days after the filing of the protest.
3. Any appeal of a decision may be made to AFSCME’s Judicial Panel (1) within 1 O days following the decision of the Local or (2) 40 days after the protest was filed, if no decision has been reached by the Local.
4. If a protest is being considered before the election has been certified, incumbents shall remain in office until the certification of the election. If the election has been certified, the newly elected officers remain in office unless a protest is upheld.
H. Certification of the Election
1. The electees take office immediately upon the certification of the election.
2. The results shall be published in a Union leaflet, Union newspaper, or mailing to the membership.
