Constitutional Amendment
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Copied from NALC's published amendments
These are the proposals on this subject as NALC printed them for the 2026 convention, in the July 2026 Postal Record. New language appears like this and language proposed for deletion appears struck through like this -- the same convention NALC itself uses. The 2028 resolution is still to be drafted; this is the record it starts from.
Amend Article 6, Section 11
Sec. 11. All regular members shall be entitled to one vote for each office to be filled. The voter shall indicate their single choice or ranked choice for each of the officers by following the procedure established by the National Election Committee as set forth in the ballot instructions. The voter shall then seal the ballot in the smaller envelope, enclose this envelope within the large one, and mail it to the post office box printed on the larger envelope. Write-in votes shall not be valid. No markings shall be made on the ballot or the smaller envelope other than as indicated in this Section.
Submitted by Branch 18, Middleboro, MA; Branch 334, Framingham, MA.
Amend Article 6, Section 11
Sec. 11. All regular members shall be entitled to one vote for each office to be filled. Whenever more than two candidates are nominated for any national office, with the exception of the National Trustee election, the voter shall rank the candidates for that office in order of preference, marking their first choice as 1, their second choice as 2, and continuing in order for as many candidates as they wish to rank, The voter shall indicate their choice for each of the officers by following the procedure established by the National Election Committee as set forth in the ballot instructions. No member shall be required to rank all candidates, and any ballot ranking at least one candidate shall be considered valid. Whenever only two candidates are nominated for an office, or in the election of National Trustees, the voter shall indicate their choice by following the existing procedure established by the National Election Committee. The voter shall then seal the ballot in the smaller envelope, enclose this envelope within the large one, and mail it to the post office box printed on the larger envelope. Write-in votes shall not be valid. No markings shall be made on the ballot or the smaller envelope other than as indicated in this Section.
Submitted by Flatirons Branch 642, Boulder, CO.
Amend Article 6, Section 11
Sec. 11. All regular members shall be entitled to one vote for each office to be filled. The voter shall indicate their choice or choices for each of the officers by following the procedure established by the National Election Committee as set forth in the ballot instructions. The voter shall then seal the ballot in the smaller envelope, enclose this envelope within the large one, and mail it to the post office box printed on the larger envelope. Write-in votes shall not be valid. No markings shall be made on the ballot or the smaller envelope other than as indicated in this Section.
Submitted by John Grace Branch 825, Oak Brook, IL.
Amend Article 6, Section 13
Sec. 13. The ballots shall be counted by the balloting association, under the supervision of the National Election Committee. Each candidate shall be entitled to have one observer present during the counting of ballots. Observers present for each respective candidate at the counting of ballots shall not be permitted to interfere in any manner with the counting and recording of same. Observers shall abide by all policies and rules adopted by the Balloting and Election Committees. In elections for all offices,the candidate (or candidates, where the election is for a group of identical offices) receiving the largest number of votes , as provided by Section 18, shall be declared elected. The final tabulations shall be certified by the balloting association to the National Election Committee; said results shall be promptly certified by the National Election Committee to the incumbent Secretary-Treasurer; and the results of the election shall be officially announced by the Secretary-Treasurer in the next edition of The Postal Record.
Submitted by Branch 18, Middleboro, MA.
Amend Article 6, Section 13
Sec. 13. The ballots shall be counted by the balloting association, under the supervision of the National Election Committee. Each candidate shall be entitled to have one observer present during the counting of ballots. Observers present for each respective candidate at the counting of ballots shall not be permitted to interfere in any manner with the counting and recording of same. Observers shall abide by all policies and rules adopted by the Balloting and Election Committees. In elections for all offices,the candidate (or candidates, where the election is for a group of identical offices multi-seat office such as the Board of Trustees) receiving the largest number of votes , as provided by Section 18, shall be declared elected. The final tabulations shall be certified by the balloting association to the National Election Committee; said results shall be promptly certified by the National Election Committee to the incumbent Secretary-Treasurer; and the results of the election shall be officially announced by the Secretary-Treasurer in the next edition of The Postal Record.
Submitted by Branch 334, Framingham, MA.
Amend Article 6, Section 13
Sec. 13. The ballots shall be counted by the balloting association, under the supervision of the National Election Committee. Each candidate shall be entitled to have one observer present during the counting of ballots. Observers present for each respective candidate at the counting of ballots shall not be permitted to interfere in any manner with the counting and recording of same. Observers shall abide by all policies and rules adopted by the Balloting and Election Committees. In elections for all offices in which only two candidates are nominated, the candidate (or candidates, where the election is for a group of identical offices) receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected. In elections for any office in which more than two candidates are nominated, ranked-choice voting shall be used to determine the winner as follows: (a) In the first round, only first-choice votes shall be counted. If a candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes cast, that candidate shall be declared elected. (b) If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate receiving the fewest first-choice votes shall be eliminated. All ballots cast for the eliminated candidate shall be redistributed to the remaining candidates based upon the next-ranked choice indicated on each such ballot. (c) Following redistribution, if a candidate has achieved a majority of votes among the remaining active candidates, that candidate shall be declared elected. (d) If no candidate has yet achieved a majority following redistribution, the elimination and redistribution process shall continue in successive rounds until one candidate achieves a majority and is declared elected. (e) In the event of a tie for the fewest votes between two or more candidates subject to elimination in any round, the National Election Committee shall determine the eliminated candidate by lot using a documented and publicly witnessed random process. (f) All rounds of ballot counting shall be fully documented and publicly reported to the membership. The final tabulations shall be certified by the balloting association to the National Election Committee; said results shall be promptly certified by the National Election Committee to the incumbent Secretary-Treasurer; and the results of the election including all rounds of counting shall be officially announced by the Secretary-Treasurer in the next edition of The Postal Record. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the election of National Trustees shall not be subject to ranked-choice voting. The three candidates receiving the largest number of votes in the National Trustee election shall be declared elected under the existing plurality procedure, as three positions are filled simultaneously in that election.
Submitted by Flatirons Branch 642, Boulder, CO.
Amend Article 6, Section 13
Sec. 13. The ballots shall be counted by the balloting association, under the supervision of the National Election Committee. Each candidate shall be entitled to have one observer present during the counting of ballots. Observers present for each respective candidate at the counting of ballots shall not be permitted to interfere in any manner with the counting and recording of same. Observers shall abide by all policies and rules adopted by the Balloting and Election Committees. In elections for all offices,the candidate (or candidates, where the election is for a group of identical offices) receiving the largest number of votes , as provided by Section 18, shall be declared elected. The final tabulations shall be certified by the balloting association to the National Election Committee; said results shall be promptly certified by the National Election Committee to the incumbent Secretary-Treasurer; and the results of the election shall be officially announced by the Secretary-Treasurer in the next edition of The Postal Record.
Submitted by John Grace Branch 825, Oak Brook, IL.
Amend Article 6, Section 15
Sec. 15. In elections conducted under the existing two-candidate procedure, i In the case of a tie vote for a particular office, another election for that office shall be held among the candidates for whom an equal number of votes is cast. In elections conducted under ranked-choice voting, tie votes between candidates subject to elimination in any round shall be resolved by lot using a documented and publicly witnessed random process overseen by the National Election Committee, as provided in Section 13(e) of this Article. A new election shall only be required in the event of a final tie between the last two remaining candidates after all rounds of elimination and redistribution have been completed. In the election of National Trustees, in the case of a tie for the final qualifying position among candidates receiving an equal number of votes for the third seat, another election for that position shall be held among the tied candidates under the existing plurality procedure. In the event of the death of a nominee for any office, the incumbent Executive Council shall be empowered, in its own discretion, to take such action as it deems necessary, including the holding of new nominations and elections for the affected office or offices.
Submitted by Flatirons Branch 642, Boulder, CO.
Add a new Article 6, Section 18
Sec. 18. (a). The tabulation of ballots to determine which candidate or candidates have received the largest number of votes shall be provided by this Section. If there are two candidates for any single-seat office, tabulation shall be conducted by single-choice plurality voting, in which voters are allowed to select which of the two candidates they prefer, the candidate with the largest number of votes shall be elected, and tabulation shall be complete. If there are three or more candidates for any single-seat office, tabulation shall be conducted by ranked choice voting. In a ranked choice voting election, members shall be provided a ballot on which they have the option to rank the candidates in order of preference (first choice, second choice, and so on), and the ballots shall be tabulated in rounds. (b). In a single-seat ranked choice election, each round shall begin by counting each ballot as one vote for its highestranked candidate that has not been eliminated. If more than two candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be eliminated and a new round shall begin. If exactly two candidates remain, the candidate with the largest number of votes shall be elected, and tabulation shall be complete. (c). The Secretary-Treasurer shall ensure ballots and tabulation systems are compatible with ranked choice voting and are conducted transparently, fairly, and in accordance with Department of Labor standards.
Submitted by Branch 18, Middleboro, MA.
Add a new Article 6, Section 18
Sec. 18. (a). The tabulation of ballots to determine which candidate or candidates have received the largest number of votes shall be provided by this Section. If there are two candidates for any single-seat office, tabulation shall be conducted by single-choice plurality voting, in which voters are allowed to select which of the two candidates they prefer and the candidate with the largest number of votes shall be elected, and tabulation shall be complete. In all other elections not declared by consent under the provisions of Section 2, tabulation shall be conducted by ranked choice voting. In a ranked choice voting election, members shall be provided a ballot on which they have the option to rank the candidates in order of preference (first choice, second choice, and so on), and the ballots shall be tabulated in rounds. (b). In a single-seat ranked choice election, each round shall begin by counting each ballot as one vote for its highestranked candidate that has not been eliminated. If more than two candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be eliminated and a new round shall begin. If exactly two candidates remain, the candidate with the largest number of votes shall be elected, and tabulation shall be complete. (c). In a multi-seat ranked choice election, an election threshold shall be calculated by dividing the total number of valid votes in the first round by the number of seats to be filled, rounding down to the nearest whole number, then adding one. If the number of votes received by a candidate equals or exceeds the threshold, that candidate shall be elected, and the excess part of each vote received by that candidate counts instead for that ballot's next-ranked remaining candidate. If the number of remaining candidates is equal to the remaining number of seats to be filled, all remaining candidates shall be elected, and the tabulation shall be complete. If no remaining candidate equals or exceeds the threshold and seats remain to be filled, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be eliminated and a new round shall begin. (d). The Secretary-Treasurer shall ensure ballots and tabulation systems are compatible with ranked choice voting and are conducted transparently, fairly, and in accordance with Department of Labor standards.
Submitted by Branch 334 Framingham, MA.
Add a new Article 6, Section 18
Sec. 18. (a). The tabulation of ballots to determine which candidate or candidates have received the largest number of votes shall be provided by this Section. For any single-seat election with fewer than three candidates and for any multi-seat election with any number of candidates, tabulation shall be conducted by plurality voting. In plurality voting, voters are allowed to select as many candidates as there are seats, and the candidates with the largest number of votes shall be elected. (b). If there are three or more candidates for any single-seat office, tabulation shall be conducted by ranked choice voting. In a ranked choice voting election, members shall be provided a ballot on which they have the option to rank the candidates in order of preference (first choice, second choice, and so on), and the ballots shall be tabulated in rounds. Each round shall begin by counting each ballot as one vote for its highest-ranked candidate that has not been eliminated. If more than two candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be eliminated and a new round shall begin. When exactly two candidates remain, the candidate with the largest number of votes shall be elected. (c). The Secretary-Treasurer shall ensure ballots and tabulation systems for plurality voting and ranked choice voting are conducted transparently, fairly, and in accordance with Department of Labor standards.
Submitted by John Grace Branch 825, Oak Brook, IL.