273-A:10 Elections.

      I. If a petition is filed by:

      (a) At least 30 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit seeking recognition, alleging that they wish to be represented in collective bargaining by an employee organization as their exclusive representative or asserting that the employee organization which has been certified by the board is no longer the representative of the majority of employees in the bargaining unit; or

      (b) A public employer alleging that one or more employee organizations has petitioned to be recognized as the exclusive representative of a majority of employees in a bargaining unit; the board shall investigate such petition and may hold hearings for the purpose of determining whether or not grounds exist for conducting an election. Upon so finding, the board shall order an election to be held under its supervision and in accordance with rules prescribed by the board. Otherwise, it shall dismiss the petition.

      II. The petition shall consist of separate forms for each employee, whose names shall not be disclosed.

      III. The ballot shall contain a space permitting a vote against representation by any employee organization whatever; and no election shall be held within 12 months after an election in which a majority of those voting cast ballots against representation by any employee organization.

      IV. An employee organization receiving a simple majority of the votes cast shall be certified by the board as the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit. In the absence of a simple majority, a run-off election shall be conducted between the 2 options receiving the most votes.

      V. The board shall not certify any employee organization as the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit without an election being held pursuant to this section.

      VI. (a) Certification as exclusive representative shall remain valid until the employee organization is dissolved, voluntarily surrenders certification, loses a valid election or is decertified.

      (b) The board shall decertify any employee organization which is found in a judicial proceeding to discriminate with regard to membership, or with regard to the conditions thereof, because of age, sex, race, color, creed, marital status or national origin; or has systematically failed to allow its membership equal participation in the affairs of the employee organization.

      (c) Any challenge to a certified exclusive bargaining representative, whether in a decertification election or a challenge by another labor organization, shall result in decertification or change in bargaining representation if decertification or the challenging organization is approved by a majority vote of members of the bargaining unit voting.

      VII. Two or more bargaining units may with the approval of the public employer affected combine for the purpose of engaging in collective bargaining negotiations with a single public employer and the bargaining unit thus created shall enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same duties as if a single exclusive representative for the combined bargaining unit had been certified by the board.

      VIII. [Repealed.]

      IX. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the board shall certify and the public employer shall recognize as the exclusive representative an employee organization which has received a written majority authorization for the purpose of collective bargaining of all the employees in the bargaining unit. This rule shall apply only when no other employee organization has been and currently is lawfully recognized as the exclusive representative of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit. When an employee organization offers evidence that it has received a written majority authorization, the employee organization and the public employer shall agree on a neutral party to conduct a confidential inspection of the evidence of written majority authorization. If within 10 days the employee organization and the public employer do not agree upon a neutral party, the board shall act as the neutral party. The neutral party shall verify the employee organization's majority support within the appropriate bargaining unit and report the results of such inspection in writing to the parties and, if the verification was conducted by an agreed neutral party, to the board, which shall in turn certify the results to the parties in writing. The board shall establish rules and procedures for the prompt verification of evidence of written majority authorization, including safeguards to protect the privacy of individual employee choice, and shall provide that, absent exceptional cause, the verification procedure shall not last longer than 10 days from the appointment of the neutral party or from assumption by the board of the duties of the neutral party.

      Source. 1975, 490:2. 1979, 374:7. 1983, 149:1, eff. Aug. 6, 1983. 2007, 368:2, eff. Sept. 15, 2007.