4117-5-08 Election procedure.

(A) All elections shall be by secret ballot and shall be conducted by designated agents of the board. No ballot may be cast by mail or proxy. The board will not issue certification based upon the results of an election not conducted by a board agent.

(B) Where more than one employee organization are parties, the incumbent shall have first choice as to position of the employee organization’s name on the ballot. For nonincumbent employee organizations, choices as to ballot position shall be made in the order in which the employee organizations filed.

(C) Each party to the election may be represented by an equal number of observers at each polling site. The selection and number of observers shall be subject to the approval of the board or board agent. Observers may be unit employees and shall be nonsupervisory, nonmanagement employees of the employer. No later than ten days prior to the election, each party shall file with the board and serve upon the other parties a list of those individuals whom the party intends to use as observers or alternate observers, unless for good cause shown, a shorter time period is requested. The employer shall release employee observers without loss of pay from their regular job assignments to enable them to serve as observers.

(D) No person shall be permitted to come within twenty-five feet of the entrance to any polling site from the time of opening to the time of closing of the polls except voters who are engaged in the actual process of voting, agents of the board, and election observers. The entrance to the polling site shall be determined solely by the board agent who conducts the election.

(E) Distribution or posting of campaign literature within twenty-five feet of the entrance of any polling site during polling hours is prohibited.

(F) An observer for any party to the election or an agent of the board may challenge for good cause the eligibility of any person to participate in the election. Prior to the counting of the ballots, the parties may, by written mutual agreement and with the consent of the agent of the board, resolve the challenge to any challenged ballot. If the unresolved challenged ballots are sufficient in number to affect the results of the election, the party shall file with the board affidavits and any other data in support of its challenge within ten days of the election.

(G) Upon conclusion of the voting, the agent of the board shall count the ballots, allowing observers and other representatives for the parties to the election to be present. Upon completion of the count, a written tally of ballots shall be supplied to each party.

(H) In elections where the ballot box must be transported to another site for the tally, observers and one representative of each party may be present for the sealing of the ballot box. The ballot box shall be transported by a board agent.

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/04/2004 and 10/01/2009

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: 4117.02(K)(8)

Rule Amplifies: 4117.02, 4117.07

Prior Effective Dates: 5/26/84 (Emer.), 6/24/84, 5/18/87