New NLRB Rule Prohibits Solicitation of Voters’ Mail Ballots in Union Elections

The National Labor Relations Board has established a new standard under which a union or employer’s offer to collect a voter’s mail ballot is objectionable conduct that can result in setting aside the results of an election. The Board’s new prohibition on ballot solicitation was handed down in a June 9 decision in which representatives of a UEW local called and texted multiple voters and offered to collect and mail their ballots. The new no-solicitation standard is significant, particularly given that the NLRB is continuing to conduct the overwhelming majority of elections through mail ballots due to COVID-19 related considerations.