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When are elections held?

The time for holding local union elections must be spelled out in the local union constitution.

While the constitution need not name a particular day, it should indicate that “all regular elections shall be held in the month of September,” or whatever month the local regularly uses. If the officers are elected for one-year terms, as is the case in most locals, that is all the language that is needed.

If the local has, by proper vote, established two-year terms for its officers, the constitution should indicate that elections are held in a specific month “in each odd-numbered year” or “in each evennumbered year.” If three-year terms are established, the constitution should call for elections in a specific month “every third year, beginning in 1973,” or some similar language to indicate a starting point for measuring the terms of office.

Elections must be held in the regularly scheduled month, even if the previous election and/or installation of officers was delayed. Such a delay might have come about because of a run-off election, a valid protest, which resulted in a re-run of the election, or perhaps because of an “Act of God,” such as a snowstorm or a flood, which made it impossible to conduct the previous election on the scheduled date.

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