By Rick Gautschi
In City of Seattle, Decision 11413 (PECB, 2012), a union filed a petition seeking to include a group of unrepresented employees of the City of Seattle in an existing bargaining unit. Subsequently, a mail ballot election occurred, the result of which was conclusive in favor of the union. Two eligible voters filed timely election objections. Only one of the objectors voted in the election. The non-voting objector claimed that the ballot was for King County.
The Commission found that the Notice of Election erroneously indicated that the Commission was conducting a secret-ballot election among employees of King County.
The Commission explained that it must preserve the integrity of the voting process. Consequently, although the ballots correctly identified the City of Seattle as the employer, because the Notice of Election erroneously identified King County as the employer, the Commission vacated the election.
