621—15.1(20) General procedures. The agency shall determine the date of the election or election period, and the place, method, and other procedural aspects of conducting a retention and recertification election held pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 20. Elections shall be conducted under the direction and supervision of the agency or its election agent and shall be by secret ballot.
Each election will be assigned a “BU” case number in the agency’s electronic document management system (EDMS). A party shall electronically file all documents in its respective BU case file unless the rules specify otherwise.
Employers and certified employee organizations shall have a representative or agent for service listed in the applicable BU case file in EDMS and in the agency’s secure upload filing system. Employers and certified employee organizations have a continuing duty to update the representative or agent for service in the BU case file in EDMS and in the agency’s secure upload filing system.
	15.1(1) Election fees.
	a. 	The employee organization is responsible for and shall prepay the election fees in accordance with this chapter.
	b. 	A certified employee organization may file a written request with the agency for an extension of time in which to pay its election fees. A certified employee organization may file a request after the agency’s filing of its intent to conduct an election, but shall file the request no later than the date the election fee is due as provided in the notice of intent to conduct an election. In no event will the agency conduct an election prior to an employee organization’s payment of election fees.
	c. 	A certified employee organization may file notice of nonpayment to indicate that it will not pay the election fees. If the certified employee organization chooses to file a notice of nonpayment, that notice shall be filed after the employer has submitted the voter list pursuant to paragraph 15.2(2)“a,” but no later than the date the election fee is due. The notice shall be signed by an authorized representative of the organization, state that the organization will not pay the election fees, and acknowledge that the agency will not conduct the applicable election and the employee organization’s certification will be revoked.
	d. 	The applicable election fee is based upon the number of employees on the voter eligibility list submitted to the agency pursuant to subrule 15.2(2).
	(1)	When the list contains ten or fewer eligible voters, the election fee is $20. When the list contains more than ten eligible voters, the election fee is $2 per eligible voter. When the number of eligible voters on the list for determining fees increases or decreases as contemplated by paragraph 15.2(2)“b” or due to successful challenges pursuant to subrule 15.2(3) and the increases or decreases alter the number of eligible voters by ten or more, the employee organization shall make an additional payment to reflect the increased number of eligible voters or, in the case of a decrease, the agency shall reimburse the employee organization for its overpayment.
	(2)	The agency will not refund the election fee in the event the election fee is paid and the agency has performed duties to conduct the election but the election does not occur.
	15.1(2) Date of election. For purposes of this chapter, the date of an election shall be the date on which the ballots were tallied.
	15.1(3) Election period. For purposes of this chapter, an election period begins at the time and on the date the agency sets for when eligible voters may first cast a ballot and ends at the time and on the date the agency sets for the tally of ballots.
[ARC 4458C, IAB 5/22/19, effective 6/26/19; ARC 5631C, IAB 5/19/21, effective 6/23/21; ARC 6520C, IAB 9/21/22, effective 8/22/22]