(a) At the regular meeting held in August, the Recording Secretary shall announce to the membership that nominations for officers shall be held at the September membership meetings.

(b) Nominations for Officers and Executive Board and Delegates shall be made from the floor at the regular membership meeting of the Local in September.

(c) The order of nomination shall be:

President

Vice President

Treasurer

Financial Secretary

Recording Secretary

Sergeant-at-Arms

Shop Chairperson

Skilled Trades Chairperson

Trustee

Executive Board Members At-Large

Strike Fund Committee Members

Delegates

Candidates´ names shall appear on the ballot in the order in which they are nominated

(d) Within forty-eight (48) hours after nominations are closed the Recording Secretary shall have a list of all nominees posted at the Union Hall and on the union bulletin boards in the plant. All members nominated shall be considered candidates if they notify the Recording Secretary in writing within ten (10) days of their nomination. Letters postmarked within this time limit shall be considered as meeting the time requirement.

(e) No member may be a candidate for more than one of the following offices:

President

Vice President

Treasurer

Financial Secretary

Recording Secretary

Sergeant-at-Arms

Shop Chairperson

Skilled Trades Chairperson

Trustee

Executive Board Member At-Large

Strike Fund Committee Member

(f) No member shall hold more than one of the following offices:

President

Vice President

Treasurer

Financial Secretary

Recording Secretary

Sergeant-at-Arms

Shop Chairperson

Skilled Trades Chairperson

Trustee

Executive Board Member At-Large

Strike Fund Committee Member

Chief Steward

District Steward

(g) The Recording Secretary shall notify the membership of the names of all candidates and the offices to which they have been nominated and the date, hours and place of the election Such notice shall be mailed to each member in good standing at his or her last known home address not less than (15) days prior to the election. In the alternative, the Recording Secretary may make arrangements to have a notice inserted in an issue of the IUE-CWA NEWS to be published and mailed not less than 15 days prior to the election setting forth the date, hours and place of the election and the offices at stake. In that event, it shall be the duty of the Recording Secretary to forward to the IUE-CWA NEWS the most recent home address of each member which the Local has. It is the obligation of each member to inform the Recording Secretary promptly of their home address and any changes herein.

(h) An Election Committee of eight (8) members shall be nominated in May and elected in June. The candidate receiving the most votes shall be the Chairperson. The Election Committee shall have the responsibility of conducting the election up to the point cast ballots are turned over to the Counting Committee at the conclusion of each day´s voting. In the event of illness, vacation or resignation of any member of the Election Committee, the person receiving the next highest vote total shall be considered a member of this Committee and fill the vacancy until the duly elected member returns from illness leave or vacation.

(i) A Counting Committee of eight (8) members shall be nominated in May and elected in June. The candidate receiving the most votes shall be the Chairperson. It shall be the responsibility of the Counting Committee to conduct the election from the point it receives cast ballots from the Election Committee, and post the results after counting the ballots for each day, in the Union Hall

(j) No candidate for office in the regular election shall be a member of the Election Committee or Counting Committee.

(k) The dates, hours and places of the election and run-off election shall be determined by the Executive Board earlier enough to be printed in the CWA News. Nominations and the election shall be held within the last four months of the election year of the International officers, starting in the year 2005.

(l) All members in good standing shall be eligible to vote in any election for the following offices:

President

Vice President

Treasurer

Financial Secretary

Recording Secretary

Sergeant-at-Arms

Shop Chairperson

Trustee

Executive Board Members At-Large

Strike Fund Committee Members

Delegates to IUE-CWA International Convention, Division Conference,

and the Indiana State AFL CIO Convention

Negotiating Committee

Election and Counting Committees

(m) Any candidate shall have the right to have an observer at the polls, the counting of the ballots and to inspect the opened ballot box at the beginning of each voting session and any time it contains uncounted ballots. The ballot box shall be transported in an open vehicle at all times.

(m-1) The election by Locals of officers, members of a governing body, and delegates and alternate delegates to the Union Convention shall be by secret ballot among the members in good standing.  The nominee in any election receiving a majority of the votes cast shall be declared elected; provided, however, that Locals may provide in their Bylaws or Rules for the election of candidates by a plurality of the votes cast in any election, other than an election of Local President, Vice President, Treasurer and Financial Secretary. 

 In the case of elections requiring a majority vote, if no one nominee receives a majority on the first ballot, a run-off election shall be conducted and the two nominees receiving the greatest number of votes on the first ballot shall be the nominees on the second ballot.  If no one nominee receives a majority on the first ballot and there is a tie for second place, a run-off election shall be conducted and the person receiving the greatest number o votes on the first ballot and the two persons who tied for second place shall be the nominees on the second ballot. 

In the case of elections requiring a plurality vote, if a tie renders the election indecisive for any position,m a run-off election shall be conducted and the nominees who tied for such position on the first ballot shall be the nominees on the second ballot.

(n) Any member who is or was a bona fide candidate may challenge an election in the Local on the grounds that its outcome may have been affected by violations of the Local Constitution or applicable federal law.

(o) Challenges shall be presented to the Recording Secretary, in writing, within five days after the official announcement of the election results.

(p) The Executive Board shall hear the challenge and make its decision prior to the next regular membership meetings.

(q) The Executive Board´s decision shall be subject to approval of the Membership at the next regular membership meeting.

(r) Appeals from the decision of the Local shall be made in writing to the District Executive Board or District Council, whichever meets earlier, within ten (10) days of the Local´s decision and to the Division President or the Executive Council of the Division or to the Executive Board of the International within ten (10) days of the decision of the District Council or District Executive Board.

(s) Any decision by the Division Vice President or the Division Executive Council under this article may be apealed to the Division Conference by a notice in writing to the President within ten days following service of the decision on the contestants.

(t) Members shall have the right to appeal the action of the President, Executive Council or Division Conference to the CWA Executive Board and CWA Convention in accordance with the CWA Constitution.

(u) Wherever there is presented to the Division President charges of manipulation or fraud in any election for officers of any IUE-CWA subordinate body, the president shall immediately nutiate proceedings to investigate the election. In any such case, the President may assume jurisdiction over the objections to the election, and all further proceedings shall thereupon be stayed, pending a decision by the President or, during the transition period, by the Executive Council. The President may appoint a hearing committee which shall hear testimony on the charges and report to him its findings and recommendations.

If the President or, during the transition period, the Executive Council, finds that the charges of the wrongdoing herein above referred to are substantiated, it may order and supervise a new election or take such other action as it may deem necessary to insure compliance with the Rules. The costs of any such new election, when conducted pursuant to this election, shall be borne by the Local on whose behalf the election was conducted.

(v) The procedures stipulated herein for the challenging of an election shall in no way deny any member, who is or was a bona fide candidate filing a challenge, his or her right to file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor, either during the specified period of from three to four months after filing his or her challenge with the Local or after all the procedures herein are exhausted.

(w) Candidates for Skilled Trades Chairperson (who must be a member of Skilled Trades in which they seek to represent) shall be nominated at the same membership meeting as the officers and shall be elected at the same time as the officers, (excepting however that the Skilled Trades Chairperson shall be elected only by those members who are employed in the plant under their respective jurisdictions.)

(x) Candidates for Chief Stewards and District Stewards (who must be members from their respective shifts and plant districts in which they seek to represent) shall be nominated and elected after the officers election at a special meeting conducted by the Shop Chairperson.

(y) The date and times for the election of Chief Stewards and District Stewards shall be set by the Executive Board at its last regular meeting prior to the start of the officers´ election.

(z) A person shall vote for Chief Stewards and District Stewards in their permanently assigned District at the time of their District vote. A person on leave of absence (up to 6 months) shall vote in the District assigned at the time of leave.

(aa) Members shall be notified at least one hundred and twenty (120) hours before the scheduled time of the Chief Stewards and District Stewards election.

(bb) Starting the year 2005, delegates shall be nominated at the September Membership Meeting and elected during the regular officers´ election. The President shall, by virtue of his or her office, be a delegate to all bodies to which the Local sends delegates.

(cc) All elections named in this Article shall be by secret ballot vote.

(dd) A member in good standing who is scheduled for military duty as required by law during the dates an election is scheduled may vote by absentee ballot, by coming to the union hall and casting their (absentee) ballot and placing it in a sealed ballot box approved by the Election Committee.

(ee) Any challenged election shall be presumed valid pending a final decision on the challenge.

(ff) In the event of a tie vote in the regular officers election or special officers election due to a vacancy, the Executive Board, by majority secret ballot vote, shall decide which of those tied with the most votes shall be elected.

(gg) In the event of a tie vote in any election conducted at the Union Hall, other than those elections specified in Article VIII (c), the Chairperson shall decide which of those tied with the most votes shall be elected.

(hh) In the event the number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of offices or positions open, those candidates shall be considered as elected.

(ii) When elections, other than for Chief or District Stewards, are held at the Union Hall, printed ballots listing the candidates in the order nominated shall be used.

(jj) The Sergeant-at-Arms will conduct the elections at the Union Hall (unless stipulated elsewhere) and shall appoint a sufficient number of members to assist in the election.