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Acceptance of nomination

The International Constitution, Appendix D, Section 2, subsection E, provides:

“Those nominated shall be afforded the opportunity to decline. The name of any nominee who declines shall not appear on the ballot.”

Note that it is “the opportunity to decline,” not “the opportunity to accept” that is guaranteed. If a nominee is eligible for the office and if the nominee does not take the positive action of declining, that nominee’s name must go on the ballot.

  • If the nominee declines, that nominee is not a candidate.
  • If the nominee accepts, that nominee is a candidate.
  • If the nominee does neither, that nominee is assumed to be a candidate.

Ordinarily, the nominee is offered the opportunity to decline at the same meeting at which nominations are taken. If the nominee is present at the meeting the chairperson simply asks, “Do you accept the nomination?” and the answer is entered in the minutes of the meeting. If the nominee is not present, the election committee should attempt to contact the nominee later to ask the nominee to indicate acceptance or declination in writing to the election committee. However, if the nominee cannot be contacted or fails to respond when contacted, the nominee is assumed to have accepted the nomination.

No member may be a candidate for more than one local union office at the same time. (Keep in mind that a delegate is not an officer. A member may be a candidate for a local union office and for delegate to a convention or to the central labor union at the same time.) If a member is nominated for two or more offices in the same election, the member must decline all except one such nomination. If the member fails to indicate which office the member wishes to seek, the election committee should assume that member is running for the first office for which that member was nominated and has declined all other nominations.

Some locals have attempted to permit running for more than one office in the same election by holding the nominations and the election for a single office at one time, then moving to the next office, and continuing the procedure until all offices have been filled. While such a procedure is legal — if spelled out in the local constitution — it is awkward and cumbersome and is not recommended.

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