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Election of convention delegates

The International Constitution provides in Appendix D, Section 3, that:

Local unions shall elect council delegates (and) delegates to conventions of the International Union in the manner prescribed for the election of local officers . . .

Delegates, however, are not officers, and while they are elected in the same manner as are officers, there are certain differences.

First, the majority vote requirement does not apply to the election of delegates unless the local union constitution specifically provides for a majority requirement. The reason for this is simply that if the majority rule should result in a run-off election, the convention might well be over before a delegate was elected.

Second, in the case of delegates to Conventions of the International Union, the length-of-membership requirement for eligibility to run is set by the International Constitution (Article IV, Section 12) as membership from and after the fourth full month preceding the opening of the Convention, and no local may change that requirement or establish any different requirement.

Third, again in the case of the International Convention, a delegate must be nominated and elected during the last 120 days preceding the opening of the Convention. This time limit does not apply to those few locals that have regularly scheduled meetings less often than once every three months; nor does it affect the right of an elected officer of the local to serve where the constitutionally prescribed duties of that office include the duty to serve as a delegate to the International Convention.

Fourth, it is possible for a local to elect as its delegate to the International Convention someone who is a member of another local, instead of one of its own members. In order to do this, the local must first vote on the question: “Shall this local elect as a Convention delegate a person who is not a member of this local union?” If that question is answered “Yes” by a majority vote, the local may then proceed to elect a member of another local who (1) has already been elected to serve as a delegate from that member’s own local, which local is in the same state and/or affiliated with the same council, or (2) is a delegate representing the council with which the local is affiliated. The limit on this kind of joint representation is that no individual may represent more than five locals or four locals and one council. No International officer, International staff member, or Judicial Panel member may represent more than one local or council.

Finally, the time table for protests on the election of delegates is much shorter than for officer elections. The protest must be filed with and decided by the local union by or on the date of the meeting at which the report of the election committee is acted on. Any appeal from that decision to the Judicial Panel must be filed within five days thereafter. (See Appendix D, Section 5, of the International Constitution.)

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