Notice of Election
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We are committed to ensuring that the election is administered in accordance with the highest standards. This election is being conducted using online voting via Simply Voting. Simply Voting uses the latest technology and security safeguards to provide secure, reliable, and confidential balloting. The election will open March 6th 2024 at 7am, and close at the General Membership Meeting that evening at 7pm. Elections for OTMH Stewards and any run off elections that may be necessary will happen the next day March 7th 2024 with ballots opening at 7am. A special meeting to announce the results will be scheduled for 7pm on March 7th. Members will not need to register again for the March 7th ballot.
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Notice to Members
After the General Membership Meeting on February 7th, the Elections and Executive committees met to discuss a nomination that was rejected. Brother Danny Hawtin will be allowed to stand as nominated as Health and Safety Officer. The CUPE Constitution and Local 815 bylaws do allow for members to hold multiple positions except for Executive Board positions.
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Ballots
All nominees/positions, except OTMH Stewards, will be on a single ballot.Â
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In order to be declared the successful incumbent to a position the candidate must receive 50%+1 of the votes. A majority of votes cast shall be required before any candidate can be declared elected, and second and subsequent ballots shall be taken, if necessary, to obtain a majority. On the second and subsequent ballots the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes in the previous ballot shall be dropped. (Local 815 Bylaws, Section 12)
Run off elections will occur March 7th 2024 if needed. Ballots will be open from 7am to 7pm, culminating with a special membership meeting at 7pm to announce the successful incumbent(s)
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In the case where there are multiple positions available for one classification, the top ranked candidates, up to the number of positions available, will be declared elected.
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Scrutineers
Each candidate may appoint one scrutineer by providing the name of a member in good standing to the Returning Officer. After the election scrutineers will join a breakout room with the Election Committee, while the committee screen share the results. In the unlikely event that Simply Voting provides the Elections Committee with a report regarding voting irregularities, the Committee will provide this report to the scrutineers.
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Voter List
Simply Voting will need to be provided with an accurate, up-to-date voter list. The Election Committee is asking all members to register to vote on our webpage CUPE815.org. On election day, a ballot will be emailed to the address that you provided. Registration will close March 4th at 5pm in order to give the committee time to vet the list. If you do not register, you will not receive a ballot, and not be able to vote.
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Internet/Computer Access
Eligible voters who do not have access to a computer or the Internet in order to register or vote can reach out to a steward in your area or the Returning Officer, and we will assist you in arranging your vote. Please contact us before the close of registration on March 4th.
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Election Results
The election will close at the General Membership Meeting on March 6th 2024. The results of the election will be made available that night.
If run off elections are needed, they will take place the following day on March 7th 2024.
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In Solidarity
Local 815 Elections Committee
Elizabeth Schramm Returning Officer
Brenda Moore Assistant
CUPE Election Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out more about the Candidates?
Candidates may submit campaign flyers to the Returning Officer and they will post them on Local 815 website. They may also do their own in person campaigning/flyers. When creating these documents or speaking in person, keep the CUPE Equality Statement and Code of Conduct in mind.
Why are Steward Elections the next day?
In Local 815 specifics case, OTMH Chief Stewards are both running as a steward as well. The elections committee wants every member's voice is heard and every vote to count, therefore it’s important to know who is elected Chief Steward, before voting for stewards.
Why are we doing online voting?
The Local 815 Returning Officer has made the decision to have 100% online voting. Online voting makes it easy and accessible to vote without having to travel to a specific location. Security and inclusion of our voting process is the highest priority.
Is Simply Voting a safe way to vote?
From Simply Voting’s website:
Over 4000 organizations from 67 countries rely on Simply Voting for their election needs. Our secure protocols, ease-of-use and flexible solutions transform elections across industries.
Simply Voting was designed from the ground-up to minimize the risk of electoral fraud or breach of secrecy:
Voters who bypass authentication or have already voted are denied access to the ballot.
One-vote-per-voter is guaranteed by marking electors as voted and storing the vote in a single transaction. Even if a voter submits the ballot simultaneously on several devices, this technology guarantees that only one vote is accepted.
Ballots are rigorously checked for validity before being accepted.
All administrator and voter activity is logged with timestamp and IP address.
Communication between the voter's computer and our website is encrypted with TLS 1.2 and strong cipher suites to protect against current and future encryption attacks.
The entire voting system database is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption.
Our servers are "hardened" and are subjected to daily Trust Guard PCI Compliance security scans.