New Jersey Regulations § 19:11-10.3 Election procedures

(a) All elections shall be by secret ballot and shall be conducted under the supervision and direction of a Commission agent. The secret ballot may be accomplished manually or by the use of a mail ballot or by a mixed manual-mail ballot system, as determined by the Director of Representation.

(b) Whenever two or more employee organizations are included as choices in an election, any employee organization may request the Director of Representation to remove its name from the ballot. The request must be received not later than five days before the date of the election or the mailing of ballots to the eligible voters. Such request shall be subject to the approval of the Director of Representation whose decision shall be final. In a proceeding involving a public employer-filed petition or a petition for decertification, the employee organization that is certified, currently recognized, or found to be seeking recognition may not have its name removed from the ballot without giving the aforementioned notice in writing to all parties and the Director of Representation, disclaiming any representation interest among the employees in the unit.

(c) The eligible voters shall be those employees included within the unit described in the agreement for consent election or as determined by the Commission or Director of Representation, who were employed during the payroll period for eligibility, including employees who did not work during that period because they were ill, or on vacation, or temporarily laid off, including those in the military service, and those on leaves of absence. In a manual ballot election, employees must appear in person at the polls in order to be eligible to vote. Ineligible to vote are those employees who have retired or quit or were discharged for cause prior to the commencement of the election and who have not been rehired or reinstated before the counting of ballots.

(d) Unless otherwise approved by the Director of Representation or by the election agent, all observers shall be non-supervisory employees of the public employer. Each party shall be allowed an equal number of observers. Observers shall:

(e) An observer or the election agent may challenge the eligibility of any person to participate in the election. Such challenge must be asserted before a person casts a ballot and shall be recorded in writing specifying the name of the challenged person, the name of the challenging party, and the reason for the challenge. All persons whose names do not appear on the eligibility list maintained by the Commission election agent shall automatically be challenged by the election agent. A challenged voter shall be permitted to vote and the ballot shall be sealed in an appropriate challenge ballot envelope after the voter marks the ballot, which sealed envelope shall be dropped in the ballot box. At the conclusion of the balloting, the parties may be provided the opportunity to resolve the challenged ballots, subject to the approval of the election agent.

(f) The election agent shall have responsibility for the conduct of the election, and may establish any procedures the agent deems necessary to facilitate the election process and preserve the integrity of the secret ballot.

(g) The ballots shall be counted at a location designated by the Director of Representation or the election agent before the election. Any person may attend and witness the tally subject to such limitation as the Director of Representation or the election agent may prescribe. After the election, the Director of Representation shall furnish the parties with a tally of ballots.

(h) Within five days after the tally of ballots has been furnished, a party may file with the Director of Representation an original and four copies of objections to the conduct of the election or conduct affecting the results of the election, together with proof of service of a copy on all other parties. Such filing must be timely whether or not the challenged ballots are sufficient in number to affect the results of the election. A party filing objections must furnish evidence, such as affidavits or other documentation, that precisely and specifically shows that conduct has occurred which would warrant setting aside the election as a matter of law. The objecting party shall bear the burden of proof regarding all matters alleged in the objections and shall produce the specific evidence supporting its claim of irregularity in the election process. Failure to submit such evidence may result in the immediate dismissal of the objections.

(i) If the party filing objections has furnished sufficient evidence to support a prima facie case, the Director of Representation shall conduct an investigation into the objections.

(j) A hearing may be conducted where an administrative investigation into the objections reveals that substantial and material factual issues have been placed in dispute which, in the exercise of the reasonable discretion of the Director of Representation, may more appropriately be resolved after a hearing. After the investigation and any hearing has been completed, an administrative determination will be made either setting aside the election and directing a new one, or dismissing the objections and issuing the appropriate certification.

(k) If challenged ballots are sufficient in number to affect the results of an election, the Director of Representation shall investigate such challenges. All parties to the election shall present documentary and other evidence, as well as statements of position, relating to the challenged ballots. After the administrative processing of the challenged ballots and any hearing has been completed, the Director of Representation shall make an administrative determination which shall resolve the challenges and contain the appropriate administrative direction.

(l) If no objections are filed within five days after the tally of ballots has been furnished, if the challenged ballots are insufficient in number to affect the results of the election, and if no runoff election is to be held, the Director of Representation shall issue to the parties a certification of results of the election, or a certification of representative, where appropriate.