Delegate process of SEIU Local 221 members for the 24th Quadrennial Convention
Nominations Committee The Nominations Committee consisted of three Executive Board members appointed by the Executive Board and staffed by Eric Banks-Consedine and Alecia Bacon. The Nominations Committee and the committee staff removed themselves from all discussions of the elections with the exception of responding to election questions of potential delegate nominees.
The Nominations Committee was very committed about opening up eligibility to as many members as possible, and as a result, our Chair, Jim Partridge asked SEIU International President Andy Stern for a waiver that would allow for the criteria of “a member in good standing” to be amended to include “any dues paying member since the inception of Local 221” which was on March 1, 2007. This waiver request was granted by the International Union. To be nominated to run as a delegate, a member in good standing had to have the signature of twenty members in good standing nominate them. All nomination forms were certified by the Nominations Committee.
The Nominations Committee met numerous times via conference call and developed the International Union Delegate Election Guidelines. How delegates would be selected, the nomination form, the request for waiver, election dates and voting method were all discussed by the Nominations Committee. All actions and questions were run through Norman Gleichman on the International Union staff, including asking for approval of the forms and the process used for the delegate election.
The Nominations Committee chose not to do a mail ballot election or worksite voting. Given the limited resources available the Nominations Committee decided to conduct elections at the Local 221 office. Since the newly organized members in Imperial County had just organized on December 18, 2007, they would not meet the criteria of members in good standing. Given that the only region for votes was in San Diego County, the Local 221 office was centrally located and that the voting pool was a little over 8,000 eligible members to vote, the Nominations Committee selected two (2) election dates for members.
Notification of Election A postcard was developed that was sent to all members via the United States Postal Service. The postcard was designed in a way to attract attention from members, so they would read it. The postcard gave the election dates and directed members to our website to download the guidelines and documents needed to qualify as a delegate nominee. Members without internet access could call the office and have the documents mailed directly to them, and they were also made available at Local 22’s office. The icon on the Local 221 website front page that directed members to information regarding the nomination and election process was a picture of the front of the postcard.
Process for Communicating with Nominees When nomination forms were received in the Local 221 office, they were checked against the Local 221 membership database to ensure that the nominee and the members signing his or her petition met the member in good standing criteria set forth in the delegate guidelines. When a member met the criteria to be a candidate or delegate, he or she was alerted through a phone call and written communication. Nominees were encouraged to campaign and turn out their supporters to the two (2) election days. No campaign restrictions were imposed by the Nominations Committee. All nominees’ names were posted in the Local 221 offices and on the Local’s website.
Elections Process On the two (2) voting days, two members of the Nominations Committee were present at all times when members came to the Local to vote.
Process Members checked in at the front desk to have their membership validated in order to vote. If the member was deemed eligible to vote, the member signed the sign-in sheet and was directed to the voting area, where they received a ballot from the Nominations Committee.
At the first voting day, the sealed ballots were counted and matched against the sign-in sheet to confirm that the number of ballots matched the number of members who signed in to receive a ballot. Once confirmed, the sealed ballots were placed in a sealed envelope that was signed by the committee member and placed in a locked box. A list of the members who voted on the first day based on the sign-in sheet was compiled into a Word document and placed in the locked box in order to prevent any duplicate voting on the second voting day.
Ballot Materials In order to ensure the security of the ballots and to prevent any duplicating, the ballots were watermarked for the appropriate dates when voting took place and the ballots were also color coded to reflect the difference. The committee also used seals that were uniquely signed and dated in order to prevent any duplicating of the ballot materials.
Ballot Counting All ballots received Thursday, March 13th and Saturday, March 15th were unsealed and counted in the presence of those present when the voting poll closed on Saturday, March 15th. In total, 56 ballots were cast and counted for the election. The number of votes for each candidate was reflected by the names of each candidate. The top 12 candidates were chosen by members in good standing to be the delegates representing SEIU Local 221 at the 2008 Quadrennial Convention.