Chapter 10. Representation Elections

The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the petitioner’s representative;

The purpose for the petition;

The bargaining unit involved in the petition;

A copy of the most current or recent collective bargaining agreement, if any;

A declaration by the petitioner or the petitioner’s representative under the penalties of perjury that the contents of the petition are true and correct to the best of the declarant’s information and belief; and

Any other facts relevant to the petition.

The name of the employee organization as it will appear on the ballot;

Showing of interest forms signed by the percentage of eligible employees in the appropriate bargaining unit required by State Government Article, §§22-402 and 22-405, Annotated Code of Maryland;

A copy of the employee organization’s governing documents that:

A certification that the organization accepts members without regard to any characteristic listed in State Government Article, §22-201(d), Annotated Code of Maryland.

Each showing of interest form shall be an original separate document for each eligible employee in the appropriate bargaining unit who supports representation by the petitioner organization.

A signed union authorization card or union membership card including the name of the petitioner is a valid showing of interest form.

Forms other than union authorization cards or union membership cards shall contain:

All signatures used for the showing of interest, including those on authorization or membership cards, shall be collected no more than 18 months prior to the filing of the petition.

Each name on the showing of interest forms shall be compared with the names on the employer list.

Each valid showing of interest form shall be marked in the upper right hand corner in a suitable fashion to show it has been accepted.

Each invalid showing of interest form shall be marked as:

Forms marked “excluded” or with an abbreviation shall indicate the employer’s stated reason for exclusion as follows:

Forms marked “invalid” shall show the reason for invalidity as follows:

The Board or its delegee shall decide if the bargaining unit identified in the petition is appropriate.

The Board may not modify any bargaining unit defined prior to June 30, 2023.

The Board may not modify any bargaining unit covered by a collective bargaining agreement in effect on June 30, 2023.

Conduct a hearing; and

Determine the appropriate bargaining unit and issue an order defining the unit accordingly.

Dismiss the petition;

Direct an election in the appropriate bargaining unit if at least 30 percent of the employees counted towards the showing of interest are employed in the appropriate bargaining unit; or

Certify the petitioner as the representative of the unit without an election pursuant to Regulation .09 of this chapter.

A petition for an exclusive representative has been filed for a bargaining unit;

The Board finds that a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit have signed valid authorizations designating the employee organization as their exclusive representative; and

No other employee organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit.

Tentative dates of election;

Times of election on each date;

Place of election;

Identity of eligible voters; and

Method of voting.

The petitioner;

All interested employee organizations that qualified for the ballot; and

The employer.

The employer;

The bargaining unit;

Choices presented to the voter.

The 10 days for voting;

The location of polling places; and

The hours the polls will be open.

The date the ballots will be mailed or distributed to the voters, provided that the ballots will be mailed approximately 2 business days before the time period for voting;

The 14-day time period in which mail ballots may be postmarked for return to the Executive Director, provided that the final day of the period is not later than 90 days after the election petition is filed; and

The date and time the ballots will be counted;

The place and time of ballot counting; and

Further information that the Executive Director considers appropriate.

The 10 days for voting; and

The name of the vendor who will communicate with the voter about how to vote.

A copy of the notice of election and the sample ballot shall be posted at the Board’s office at least 21 days before the election.

A copy of the notice of election and the sample ballot shall be posted by the employer at all work locations where notices are customarily posted for the benefit of employees in the bargaining unit. The employer shall post the notice of election and sample ballot for at least 21 days before the election or distribution of mail ballots, or for at least 14 days if the time before the election or ballot distribution is shorter, and post them through the end of the election.

Posting requirements may be modified by mutual written agreement of all parties filed with and approved by the Executive Director.

Notwithstanding §F(2) of this regulation, the Executive Director may tailor posting requirements to provide adequate notice to employees.

The employer shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that notices of election and sample ballots are not altered, covered, defaced, or removed before the completion of the election. If a notice is so affected, the employer shall replace the notice of election and sample ballots with a new notice.

Full name;

Job title;

Worksite address; and

Email address, if any.

Voting shall be scheduled during workdays whenever possible and polling places and voting times shall permit reasonable access by voters. Public employers shall grant reasonable release time to employees so that the employees can vote during their workday or shift.

The Executive Director shall oversee the election. At the discretion of the Executive Director, the election may be overseen by an election judge who shall be a board member or other designated individual who is selected based upon qualifications and integrity.

The Executive Director or election judge shall be solely responsible for:

There shall be no electioneering of any kind within the marked and designated polling areas. In addition, no voter shall be subjected to intimidation, duress, or coercion during an election. The Board may set aside an election outcome favorable to a party who substantially and materially violates this provision, and order remedies for the violation, which might include a new election.

If there is more than one polling place, the Executive Director or election judge shall sequester ballots from each location until counted. Sequestered ballots shall be sealed in an envelope or other appropriate container and delivered to the counting location.

Election Observers. Each employee organization participating in an on-site election may be represented by one observer who has no supervisory power over employees who are voting per bargaining unit, at each polling place, to observe:

The public employer may designate one observer who is not a supervisor of any of the employees who are eligible to vote in the election, per bargaining unit, at each polling place, to observe:

The participating unions and the public employer shall provide the Executive Director, at least 3 days before the start of the election, with the names of their designated observers and no more than two alternate observers for each one, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties and the Executive Director, who may observe in place of, but not in addition to, a designated observer.

The final certification of the accuracy of the ballot count shall be by the Executive Director.

On the scheduled date for mailing ballots, the Executive Director shall mail to each eligible voter:

The voting instructions shall instruct the voter to return the ballot to the Board in the two envelopes as follows:

The “Mail Ballot Envelope” shall be:

The “Mail Ballot Envelope” shall contain a space to identify:

A ballot shall be voided if the voter fails to provide or destroys any required identity information on the “Mail Ballot Envelope”.

Each “Mail Ballot Envelope” shall be authenticated against the list of eligible voters when the ballots are counted.

“Secret Ballot Envelopes” shall be removed from authenticated “Mail Ballot Envelopes” and deposited in a suitable container with other “Secret Ballot Envelopes” to preserve anonymity.

Each party to a mail ballot election may be represented by one representative to observe the counting of the ballots and the certification of the accuracy of the ballot count. The Executive Director shall arrange for the opportunity for this observation.

After all the authenticated “Secret Ballot Envelopes” are collected, the ballots shall be removed and counted at random and recorded in the presence of election observers, if any.

All challenges to mail ballots due to the identity or eligibility of the voter shall be raised before the removal of the “Secret Ballot Envelope” from the “Mail Ballot Envelope”.

The Board shall designate the vendor who will administer the electronic voting. The parties shall split the costs of the vendor.

Any challenges to a voter’s eligibility to vote shall be resolved before the employee votes.

After eligibility is resolved, the Board shall ensure that a list of voters is produced, and the Board shall provide that list to the vendor and all parties.

Log-in credentials for voting shall be randomly assigned to each voter so that nobody other than the voter can access each log-in credential.

One observer from each party may observe how credentials are prepared and watch the tabulation.

The electronic voting system cannot link a voter to their vote, once cast, and nobody is permitted to attempt to use the system to make such a link.

The vendor shall retain the voting system and digital records until the election is complete.

The identity of the challenged voter;

The name of the person making the challenge; and

The reason for the challenge.

The ballot does not reveal the intent of the voter due to:

In the case of a mail ballot, for the reasons in §A(1) of this regulation or if it is returned without all required voter identification.

The choice earning a majority of votes cast, if any choice on the ballot received such a majority; or

If none of the choices on the ballot receive a majority of the valid votes cast in an election, that the Board will conduct a runoff election between the choices that received the two highest number of votes in the election.

Be filed with the Board, and served on all other parties, within 10 days of the Executive Director sending the election result, even when challenged ballots are sufficient in number to determine the outcome of the election; and

Include a specific statement of the reasons for each objection, including describing how the election outcome was allegedly prejudiced, and also provide any supporting evidence.