§ 28.116 Conduct of elections.

(a) The Board shall supervise any election it orders to be conducted, but may delegate ministerial functions relating to an election to any qualified independent organization; to members of the Board's full-time staff; or to temporary employees hired for this purpose.

(b) Appropriate notices setting forth details of the election shall be posted by GAO as directed by the Board.

(c) The Board shall, through its agents chosen to conduct the election:

(1) Provide the opportunity for all qualified voters to indicate their choices in secrecy;

(2) Offer qualified voters the opportunity to vote for any labor organization on the ballot, or to reject all labor organizations;

(3) Permit all parties to observe all aspects of the election procedure other than any which would interfere with the secrecy of the ballot;

(4) Provide for all parties to challenge the eligibility of any voters, and to impound the ballots of such voters, subject to later determination of eligibility should the number of challenges potentially affect the results;

(5) Certify to all parties the results of the election.

(d) Upon receiving a report of the results of the election, the Board shall:

(1) If necessary rule on the challenges and adjust the results accordingly;

(2) Formally announce the results and, where appropriate, designate a labor organization as the exclusive collective bargaining agent, or withdraw such a designation;

(3) Order a runoff or an additional election, if the Board deems it appropriate, where the results of the original election are inconclusive because no choice on the ballot has secured a majority of the valid votes cast. Not more than one additional and one runoff election may be held.

(i) Runoff election. The Board may order a runoff election where one or more of the labor organizations on the ballot has received the vote of at least 30 percent of the employees eligible to vote, but none has gained a majority of the votes cast. The runoff election will be between the two choices receiving the largest and the second largest number of votes in the original election.

(ii) Additional election. The Board may order an additional election where there is a tie vote between all of the choices on the ballot or where a runoff election is not feasible because there is a tie between the choices receiving the second most votes in the original election. The additional election will include all the choices that appeared on the original ballot.