Election Process for Workplace Delegates and Workplace Deputy Delegates
CPSU policy.
Rule 2.3 - Workplace Delegates of the PSU Group Rules deals with the duties, elections and recall of Delegates and Deputy Delegates. The Rule states that:
g. The process for electing a Delegate will be as determined by the Governing Council. The term of office of a Delegate will, unless determined otherwise by the Governing Council, be 1 year.
References in the Rule to “Delegate” are to also be read as references to “Deputy Delegate”.
At National Council 1/2005 the following union policy with regard to the process of electing a Delegate and Deputy Delegate for a workplace is determined.
Election of Delegates and Deputy Delegates
When are elections to be run?
1. The process to elect a Delegate and a Deputy Delegate shall be conducted, generally between 1 January and 30 March immediately preceding the commencement of the term of office.
Who is responsible for the conduct of elections?
2. The relevant National Officer is responsible for conducting elections for Delegate and Deputy Delegate.
3. Responsibility for conducting these elections may be delegated by the relevant National Officer to the relevant Organising Committee or Section Secretary. In that case, references in this Policy to the National Officer shall be read as references to the Organising Committee or the Section Secretary.
Appointing the Returning Officer
4. The relevant National Officer, on behalf of the National Secretary, shall appoint a Returning Officer for each election that is required. One Returning Officer can be appointed to conduct a number of elections. The Returning Officer shall be a financial member of the union.
5. The Returning Officer is to conduct elections in a fair and unbiased manner. Generally the Returning Officer shall not hold any office whose electorate includes the members of the workplace in which they are conducting an election, but on occasion could be a retiring Delegate.
Calling for Nominations
6. The Returning Officer should:
(i) Distribute a notice to all members of the workplace, advising when and where an election meeting is going to be held and that the time for the closing of nominations will be at that meeting; unless
(ii) The Returning Officer determines that it is impractical to conduct a meeting of a particular workplace, where the notice to all members of the workplace should call for nominations and set a time and date for the close of nominations.
7. The Returning Officer should give reasonable time for members to nominate and ensure that the election meeting is held at a convenient time and place for members to attend. Nominations may be sent to the Returning Officer prior to a meeting in writing or by electronic means.
8. The nomination must be signed by the nominee and two nominators from the workplace, or one nominator if the workplace has less than ten members. The nominee and nominators must be financial members of the Union.
Conducting the Election
9. The election of the Delegate and Deputy Delegate shall be held at a meeting of financial members of that workplace, unless otherwise determined under paragraphs 10 or 13 of this Policy.
10. Should the Returning Officer determine that it is impractical to conduct a meeting of a particular workplace, they will set a date for closing of nominations, call for nominations by notice to members of the workplace and conduct any necessary ballot.
11. Should there be only one nomination for a position, the Returning Officer shall declare the member so nominated elected to the position.
12. Each financial member of the workplace at the meeting shall vote by show of hands or by indicating their preferred candidate(s) on a ballot paper provided by the Returning Officer. At the request of any member in the workplace, the Returning Officer will conduct a secret ballot for the position(s).
13. Should a third of the financial members of a workplace provide a written request, prior to the meeting, to the relevant Organising Committee, National Officer, Section Secretary or the Returning Officer for a postal ballot or should a majority of those attending the meeting so determine, the Returning Officer shall conduct a secret postal ballot for a contested position of Delegate or Deputy Delegate. The Returning Officer shall determine the dates for any postal ballot.
(i) Upon the closing of the ballot the Returning Officer shall count the votes in accordance with the provisions of Rule 3.10 of Chapter B of the CPSU Rules.
Advising the outcome of the Election
14. The Returning Officer shall advise the National Officer and the members of the workplace of the outcome of any election as soon as possible.
15. It is the responsibility of the National Officer to advise the National Secretary of the outcome of any election in writing.
Term of Office
16. The term of office for a Delegate and Deputy Delegate shall generally be one year, commencing on 31 March and ending on 30 March the following year.
17. Notwithstanding the terms of paragraph 15, a Delegate and Deputy Delegate shall not cease to hold office, due simply to the expiry of their term, where an election has not been held for the subsequent term.
18. After the expiry of the term of office in paragraph 15, members of a workplace may hold an election for a new Delegate and Deputy Delegate at any time.
Report on Elections to Governing Council
19. The National Secretary shall prepare a report on the number of Delegates, Deputy Delegates and Workplace Representatives in each Agency for each in face meeting of Governing Council. The number of Delegates, Deputy Delegates and Workplace Representatives in each Agency shall be broken down by gender and any other relevant diversity criteria.
Recall of Delegates, Deputy Delegates
20. Should a third of the financial members of a workplace write requesting the recall of a Delegate or a Deputy Delegate, the National Officer or Section Secretary shall convene a meeting of members of the workplace, giving all members notice of the time, date, place and purpose of the meeting and shall also appoint a Returning Officer to conduct any secret ballots at the meeting.
21. The following procedure shall be followed at the meeting:
(i) A motion shall be put to the meeting in the following terms “That the Delegate/Deputy Delegate has the confidence of this meeting of their workplace members”.
(ii) After proper debate all financial members of the workplace shall be asked to vote by show of hands or by indicating on a ballot paper provided by the Returning Officer to indicate whether they are for or against the motion. At the request of any member in the workplace, the Returning Officer will conduct a secret ballot on the motion.
22. If the motion is lost the Returning Officer shall declare the relevant position vacant and call for nominations. The Returning Officer shall then conduct an election in accordance with this policy.
23. If the motion is carried the provisions of this Policy shall not apply in respect of the same Delegate or Deputy Delegate for a period of three months.
