SECTION 1. The term of office of Local officers and Executive Board members shall be three (3) years except that the International Administrative Committee shall have the authority to approve a by-law provision establishing, or maintaining, a two-year term for the officers and Executive Board members of any Local which petitions and submits satisfactory reasons for such approval, and except further such term may be extended for good cause shown to four (4) years where the law permits. Elections under this section shall be by a plurality of the secret ballot votes cast.

SECTION 2. Members of the Local Executive Board may be elected either at large or through branches, sections or divisions, or on such other basis set forth in the Local’s by-laws as will ensure equitable representation.

SECTION 3. No member shall be eligible for nomination or election to any office unless he/ she shall have been in continuous good standing in his/her Local Union for a period of twelve (12) months immediately preceding nomination. No member of a Local Union that has been in existence for less than twelve (12) months shall be eligible for nomination or election to office unless he/she shall have been in continuous good standing from the date of his/her admission to membership in said Local Union.

SECTION 4. No member shall be eligible for nomination or election to any office for three years after being found at trial, or admitting, to either (1) having worked in the interest of or accepted membership in any organization dual to the International Union or (2) having advocated or attempted to bring about the withdrawal or disaffiliation from the International Union of any Local Union or any member or group of members. Such ineligibility shall cease to apply if the trial determination is later reversed.

SECTION 5. Branch, section, and division officers in Local Unions shall be elected pursuant to the procedure set forth in the Local’s by-laws.

SECTION 6. All ballots and such other records as pertain to the election of Local officers and of Convention delegates shall be preserved for at least twelve (12) months. Primary responsibility for their preservation shall be vested in the Financial Secretary- Treasurer, but it shall be the obligation of each member of the Local Executive Board to insure their preservation. Not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the election of local officers, notice of such election shall be mailed to each member of the Local Union at his/her last known home address. The members of the Local Union shall also be given a reasonable opportunity to nominate candidates for Local office. Failure to meet either of the requirements of this Section shall invalidate the election.

SECTION 7. The failure of a member, otherwise in good standing, to attend a reasonable number of the meetings of his/her Local Union, or of the division, section or other unit thereof to which he/she belongs, may not be made the basis for disqualifying such member as a nominee for any elective position except Branch, section or division officer or officer of a Local Union whose membership is comprised entirely of public-sector employees. Any meeting attendance requirement permitted by this provision shall be effective only if incorporated in the Local’s by-laws and the by-law provision may not be given retroactive effect. This section shall not be construed to preclude a Local Union from establishing in its by-laws any other reasonable penalty for a member’s failure to attend Union meetings. The failure of a member to attend a meeting because of the requirement of his/her job or any other adequate reason shall not affect his/her eligibility to run for or hold any elective position, provided that within thirty (30) days after such non-attendance he/she files a written statement with the Local Recording Secretary of the reasons for his/her non-attendance. If the officers administrating the Local Union in accordance with this Constitution, or their designee, do not within 30 days of the receipt of such statement, challenge the truth or adequacy of the stated reasons, the member shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have attended such meeting. Should the officers challenge the stated reasons, the member may appeal that determination to the Local Executive Board, which shall decide the appeal based on documents and other writings submitted to it by the Local officers and the member appealing their decision. The decision of the Executive Board may be appealed in accordance with Article XXII of the TWU Constitution. No member shall be regarded, for the purposes of eligibility for nomination to a given office, as having missed a given meeting where he is engaged in this process unless and until the Local Executive Board has rendered a decision rejecting his statement of reasons for missing the meeting in question.

SECTION 8. Any member in good standing who believes that he/she has been improperly denied the opportunity to be a candidate for an elective office or position may file a complaint with his/her Local Executive Board no later than fifteen (15) days after receiving notice of the denial. Any member in good standing who believes that an election in which he/ she was a candidate was improperly conducted, may file a complaint with his/her Local Executive Board no later than fifteen (15) days after the results of the election have been made known. If he/she is dissatisfied with the action of the Local Executive Board on his/her complaint, he/she may, within 15 days thereafter, or within 30 days after filing his/her complaint with the Local Executive Board if the Board has not taken final action thereon within that time, file an appeal to the International Union pursuant to Article XXII of this Constitution.