California Government Code 3544.7 – (a) Upon receipt of a petition filed pursuant to Section 3544.3 …
(a) Upon receipt of a petition filed pursuant to Section 3544.3 or 3544.5, the board shall conduct inquiries and investigations or hold any hearings it deems necessary in order to decide the questions raised by the petition. The determination of the board may be based upon the evidence adduced in the inquiries, investigations, or hearing. However, if the board finds on the basis of the evidence that a question of representation exists, or a question of representation exists pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3544.1, it shall order that an election be conducted by secret ballot and it shall certify the results of the election on the basis of which ballot choice received a majority of the valid votes cast. There shall be printed on each ballot the statement: “no representation.” No voter shall record more than one choice on his or her ballot. Any ballot upon which there is recorded more than one choice shall be void and shall not be counted for any purpose. If at any election no choice on the ballot receives a majority of the votes cast, a runoff election shall be conducted. The ballot for the runoff election shall provide for a selection between the two choices receiving the largest and second largest number of valid votes cast in the election.
(b) An election may not be held and the petition shall be dismissed if either of the following exist:
Terms Used In California Government Code 3544.7
- Board: means the Public Employment Relations Board created pursuant to Section 3541. See California Government Code 3540.1
- employee: means a person employed by a public school employer except persons elected by popular vote, persons appointed by the Governor of this state, management employees, and confidential employees. See California Government Code 3540.1
- Employee organization: means an organization that includes employees of a public school employer and that has as one of its primary purposes representing those employees in their relations with that public school employer. See California Government Code 3540.1
- employer: means the governing board of a school district, a school district, a county board of education, a county superintendent of schools, a charter school that has declared itself a public school employer pursuant to subdivision (b) of §. See California Government Code 3540.1
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Exclusive representative: means the employee organization recognized or certified as the exclusive negotiating representative of public school employees, as "public school employee" is defined in subdivision (j), in an appropriate unit of a public school employer. See California Government Code 3540.1
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10
(1) There is currently in effect a lawful written agreement negotiated by the public school employer and another employee organization covering any employees included in the unit described in the request for recognition, or unless the request for recognition is filed less than 120 days, but more than 90 days, prior to the expiration date of the agreement.
(2) The public school employer has, within the previous 12 months, lawfully recognized an employee organization other than the petitioner as the exclusive representative of any employees included in the unit described in the petition.
(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 190, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2004.)