IBEW Local 37 is currently undergoing an election of officers with the counting of mail-in ballots occurring this Wednesday, June 16th.

It's recently come to my attention that a very small number of ballots were mailed to former members of Local 37 who have moved into non-union positions.

I want to assure all Local 37 members that the rigorous, safeguarded ballot handling process, that we have had in place for many years, ensures that only the ballots of eligible members are counted on Election Day.

Below are the details of this process as well as the associated safeguards within the Local 37 election process.

• The accounting firm, MacMillan and MacMillan, will deliver all of the returned ballots to the Local 37 Office.

• The Election Tellers and Judge will check that the name on each and every return envelope is indeed an eligible voter by comparing it to the most accurate, and up-to-date Union Dues Report.

• Any returned ballots that are not eligible will be removed and not counted.

• Once the member's name is verified, their secret, unopened ballot envelope is placed in the ballot box.

• After all returned ballots are checked, the secret ballot envelopes are given a good mix, opened, and then counted by the Election Tellers.

• The results will be reported to the membership once the entire counting process is completed.

Using this tested process, I am very confident of a maintaining a secret voting process, while also ensuring that only members in good standing will have their votes counted.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by phone: 506-452-1038 (home) / 506-471-5628 (cell) or email: bob.tucker@bellaliant.net.

Yours truly,

Robert Tucker
Election Judge