Section 560IAC2-2-9. Election procedures

   (a) All elections shall be conducted and supervised by one (1) or more board agents. All elections shall be by secret ballot. Absentee ballots may be permitted under terms agreed to by the school employer and school employee organizations on the ballot and accepted by the board's agent or under such terms as the board or its agent may direct.

  (b) A school employee organization shall not be entitled to a place on the ballot unless it submits written evidence satisfactory to the board or its agent of at least twenty percent (20%) representation of the school employees in the unit. In addition to the school employee organizations included as choices on the ballot in the election, the ballot shall contain a choice of "no representation by a school employee organization", except where the board or its agent orders a runoff ballot in an election under IC 20-29-5-3 or a rerun ballot in an election under IC 20-29-7-4.

  (c) Whenever two (2) or more school employee organizations are included as choices on a ballot, any such organization may, upon prompt request to and approval thereof by the board or its agent, have its name removed from the ballot; provided, however, that in a proceeding involving a petition filed by a school employer or a petition for decertification, neither the school employee organization certified and currently recognized nor a school employee organization found to be seeking recognition may have its name removed from the ballot without giving notice in writing to all parties and the board or its agent that it disclaims any representation interest among the school employees in the unit.

  (d) Voting shall be by secret ballot. The board or its agent shall give each eligible voter a ballot which shall be marked in secrecy. The board or its agent or agents or authorized observers may challenge the eligibility of any person to participate in the election.

  (e) Eligible voters shall be those school employees included within the unit described in the collective bargaining agreement for consent election or as determined by the board or its agent those who were employed during the payroll period immediately prior to the election, including employees who did not work during that period because they were ill, on vacation, or on other legitimate leave, as determined by the board or its agent. Ineligible to vote are those school employees who quit or were discharged for cause since the designated payroll period and who have not been rehired or reinstated before the election date. In all representation elections conducted under this section, the school employer is required to file with the board and with the school employee organization or organizations an election eligibility list, unless otherwise directed differently by the board or its agent. The list shall consist of an alphabetical listing of the names of all eligible voters, together with their last known mailing address, and building in which the voter is primarily assigned, unless otherwise directed by the board or its agent. The eligibility list must be received by the board or its agent not later than ten (10) days prior to the date of the election. A school employee whose name does not appear on the eligibility list shall not be precluded from voting but should be challenged on the day of election.

  (f) Mail ballot elections procedures are as follows:

(1) The voter eligibility list must be provided by the school employer as a set of preprinted mailing labels containing the names and addresses of each eligible voter. In the event that the school employer is unable to provide preprinted mailing labels due to extraordinary circumstances, the IEERB staff will prepare labels from an eligibility list provided by the employer.

(2) The voter eligibility list will be provided by the school employer to the IEERB and all employee organizations listed on the ballot ten (10) days prior to the first day of the polling period. All employee organizations listed on the ballot or potential voters who wish to challenge the voter eligibility list must do so by notifying the IEERB not later than five (5) days prior to the first day of the polling period. The voter eligibility list will be deemed final if no challenges are received.

(3) IEERB entrusts ballots to the U.S. mail for transmittal to eligible voters and pays the postage for eligible voters to transmit their ballots back to IEERB. In addition to any sanctions imposed by IEERB, allegations of tampering with the transmittal of mail ballots will be turned over to federal authorities for prosecution as mail fraud.

(4) IEERB staff will send ballot materials to eligible voters at least three (3) calendar days (excluding Sundays or legal holidays) prior to the beginning of the polling period.

(5) An eligible voter may return the ballot by mail or may hand-deliver his or her ballot to the IEERB office.

(6) The polling period will consist of at least fourteen (14) calendar days, but not more than thirty (30) calendar days, and will be determined by the IEERB hearing officer in consultation with the interested parties. In order to be counted, a ballot must be received by IEERB by the last date of the polling period.

(7) All returned ballots are handled exclusively by IEERB staff. Ballots shall remain unopened in return envelopes until the time and date of the tabulation of ballots.

(8) Where IEERB staff has sent an eligible voter a duplicate ballot, the original ballot will no longer be deemed countable and will be discarded if received by IEERB.

(9) Where more than one (1) employee organization is a party in the election, the incumbent will have first choice as to the 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 a showing of interest.

(10) All employee organizations listed on the ballot will have equal access to mailboxes, bulletin boards, and lounges for certificated employees during the period between the ordering of an election and the final date of balloting. Campaigning will be limited to certificated employee areas. All employee organizations will be required to follow school employer policies and procedures in all campaign activities.

  (g) The tabulation of ballots shall be scheduled on the IEERB business day following the deadline for return of the ballots, or at such date and time deemed appropriate by the IEERB hearing officer. The board or its agent or agents in the presence of the authorized observers shall count and tabulate the ballots. Upon request, a complete tally of the ballots will be furnished to the parties at the conclusion of the count. Each interested party will be allowed one (1) official observer to be present at the tabulation of ballots. Each party must notify IEERB in writing as to the person who is the official observer representing that party. If a party fails to notify IEERB of its official observer, or if the official observer fails, without reasonable cause as determined by the IEERB hearing officer, to appear at the ballot tabulation, that party shall forfeit its right to observe the tabulation of ballots. Challenges may be waived before the count, and the challenged ballots should be removed from the envelopes and counted with other ballots. If there is no waiver, challenged ballots shall not be opened or counted at this time but shall remain sealed.

  (h) If challenged ballots are sufficient in number to affect the results of the election, the board or its agent or agents shall conduct an investigation, which may include a hearing, and make a ruling upon the challenges. All documents, evidence, and briefs of the parties in support of or in opposition to the challenge shall be filed within five (5) days of the initial tally of the votes. After a ruling is made on the challenges, those ballots in which the challenge was not upheld shall be counted and added to the tally, and a new tally will be furnished to the parties upon request.

  (i) If objections to the conduct of the election are filed, they shall be filed within five (5) days of the initial tally of the ballots. Documents, evidence, and briefs in support of the objections shall be filed with the board and served on all other parties within the five (5) day time limit. All other parties shall have an additional five (5) days from receipt of the objections to file answering briefs. The board or its agent shall conduct an investigation, which may include hearing the objections and ruling upon them, except where the board agent's conduct is the subject of an objection to an election. If the agent's conduct is the subject of an objection, the agent shall not conduct the investigation of or hearing on the objection. Prior to the next board meeting, the board or its appropriate designee will appoint another agent who will investigate and hear the objections.

  (j) After the investigation has been completed or, where appropriate, the hearing process has been completed, the board will render a determination with regard to the objections either setting aside the election and directing a new election or dismissing the objections and issuing the appropriate certification. (Indiana Education Employment Relations Board; 560 IAC 2-2-9; filed Oct 6, 1988, 11:15 a.m.: 12 IR 305; readopted filed Sep 12, 2001, 10:55 a.m.: 25 IR 529; readopted filed Nov 30, 2007, 11:19 a.m.: 20071226-IR-560070368RFA; filed Aug 28, 2012, 2:06 p.m.: 20120926-IR-560120112FRA; readopted filed Sep 10, 2013, 10:25 a.m.: 20131009-IR-560130214RFA)