Nominations: Officers of the Union shall be elected for a three year term of office
with nominations to be made at the stated September meeting.
To be eligible for nomination or to nominate, the member must be paid up
in dues through the month prior to the nomination meeting. Nominations shall be made by a member in good standing other than the
nominee and seconded by a member in good standing other than the nominee.
Candidates must accept nominations at the time of the nomination
meeting, or acceptance in writing must be made to the Secretary following the
meeting within 48 hours if the nominee is not present. No member may run for
more than one position as an officer.
No person holding a management position is eligible to be nominated.
This shall not apply to working foremen.To be eligible for nomination for any office of the Union delegate or
alternative, a member must have attended at least five of the regular monthly
meetings of the Union in the last twelve (12) months preceding the nomination.
If a member signs the attendance book at a regular meeting and there is no
quorum, the member shall be considered as though there was a meeting under this
section. The Executive Committee with approval of the membership may make
special exception to this section due to illness or incapacity of a member. An
appeal for this exception must be made for each meeting missed to the Executive
Committee at their next regular meeting.Delegates and Alternates to the PPPWU Convention shall be nominated and
elected in accordance with PPPWU Law.
The Board of Election shall examine each candidate who is nominated to
determine that they satisfy eligibility criteria. This examination may include,
as deemed necessary , a written affirmance from candidates that they have not
been convicted of a felony in the past 13 years that would render the candidate
ineligible to run for office pursuant to applicable federal law. If a candidate
is declared ineligible, the candidate shall be notified in writing by the Board
of Election. At least 10 days prior to the nomination meeting, notice shall be
mailed to the last known address of all members in good standing, setting forth
the date, time and place of the nomination meeting and the offices to be
filled, and the date(s) and details of the elections.
Where the nominee is unopposed at the regularly designated nominations
meeting, there shall be no necessity for the election of such nominee and he
shall be declared duly elected at such nominations meeting, effective as of the
conclusion of the term of the previous incumbent.
Voter Eligibility
To be eligible to vote in the
election, a member must have his dues paid up through the month prior to the
month in which the election is held.
No member whose dues have been
withheld by his employer for payment to the Local Union pursuant to his
voluntary authorization provided for in a collective bargaining agreement shall
be declared ineligible to stand for election, to nominate, seconded, or vote
for a candidate for office in the Local Union, by reason of a delay or default
in the payment of dues by the employer to the Local Union.
Conduct of Election
At least one month preceding
the nomination meeting, the President shall appoint a Board of Election
consisting of members from each category (Journeyman Pressman, Press Assistant,
Prepress and Bindery/Specialty Worker) who shall oversee the nominations and
elections.
The Board of Election shall
conduct the secret ballot election which may at the discretion of the Board of
Election, be in whole or in part by mail ballot. This election shall take place at no earlier
than thirty (30) days from the nomination meeting. If a mail ballot is utilized, a post office
box will be secured. The Executive Committee may make arrangement for the post
office box in advance of the appointment of the Board of Election.
If the Board of Election determines
that in person voting shall be utilized in whole or in part for the election,
arrangements shall be made for elections to be conducted at each office where
local members are employed and, where no mail ballot is in place, for balloting
to take place for each shift. If in-person voting is permitted, voting shall
also be permitted at the union hall.
Because of the number of shops and shifts, the Board of Election may
designate the election on more than a single day. The time and place of voting shall be posted
in advance of the vote. Chapel Chairman may be utilized to assist the Board of
Election. The votes at each workplace shall be sealed and shall be transported
to the Union Office and placed in a locked container with the Board of Election
having custody of the key to such container.
The Board of Election shall also have custody to any key to the post
office box.
The Board of Election shall
have the authority to provide suitable safeguards for the honest and fair
conduct of the election. The Secretary/Treasurer
shall provide the Board of Election with suitable ballot boxes, printed ballots
and a membership list. Write-in ballots
for candidates not duly nominated shall not be considered valid votes.
Each candidate shall have the
right to an observer at the candidate’s expense at each voting site, including
the union hall. Such observer(s) shall
be a member in good standing. One observer for each candidate may also
accompany a member of the Board of Election when the post office box is emptied
and ballots are brought back to the hall.
All candidates shall have the
right to be present when the ballots are counted at the union hall. Candidates will have the responsibility to
provide the Board of Election with contact information so that they may be informed
of the time of the vote count or other matters relating to the election.
When the count is completed,
the result shall be delivered to the President.
The results shall also be posted on the Union’s website and be available
upon the request of any member.
The candidate receiving the
highest number of votes shall be declared the winner. In the case of a tie vote for the office of
President, there shall be a rerun election with only the top two candidates who
have tied for the highest number of votes. For all other offices, a tie vote
shall be resolved by a flip of a coin.
Absentee voting by mail shall
be permitted only upon written application of members who are ill or absent
from the area where they are normally employed at the time of voting because
they are on vacation or employment tour of duty. Such application must be
received no later than three (3) weeks before the scheduled election if
in-person voting is utilized or such other time as determined by the Board of
Election. Such application to the
Secretary/Treasurer for absentee ballot must state reason for application.
Absentee ballots to be valid must be received no later than noon of the day
that the polls are closed or the ballots are collected at the post office box
as the case may be.
Nominations and Election Protests
Any member who desires to
challenge a ruling by the Board of Election on eligibility to run for office
shall appeal, in writing, within forty-eight (48) hours after receipt of the
ruling to the Local Executive Committee. The decision of the Local Executive
Committee shall be appealable to the PPPWU President within 48 hours of the
receipt of the ruling. The decision of the PPPWU president shall be final.
In the event there shall be
any protest made concerning an election by any member prior to the holding of
the election, such protest shall be made in writing by such member within
forty-eight (48) hours of his knowledge of the event complained of and shall
specify the exact nature and specifications of the protest.
In the event there is a
protest by any member after the election has been held, such protest shall be
made in writing by such person within seventy-two (72) hours of the election
setting forth the exact nature and specifications of the protest and his claim
as to how it affected the outcome of the election. Such protest shall be made to
the Local Union Secretary-Treasurer of the Local who shall refer it to the
Local Executive Committee for disposition with the Local Executive Committee
having the right to conduct an examination and/or to conduct a hearing as they
see fit. The decision of the Local
Executive Committee shall be appealable to the PPPWU President for final
decision.
If votes are challenged at the
time of the balloting, such challenge shall be made in writing at the time of
the election with specific reasons for such challenge. Vote challenge shall be
resolved by the Board of Election if the challenge is outcome determinative.
The decision of the Board of Election shall be appealable to the Local Executive
Committee for final decision.
Questions relating to the
conduct of the election shall be made in writing to the Election Board as they
arise. Decisions by the Board of
Election shall be rendered in writing. The Board of Election has the right to
interpret these rules or to resolve matters not covered by these rules in the
interest of conducting a fair and honest election.
Election Rules are also
available on the Local’s Web Site at www.printing-union-local72c.com or call
301-699-1202 or e-mail local72c@msn.com the Local Office for copies.
