Labor & Employment Law

NLRB moving to electronic voting?

NLRB has issued a request for information on procuring and implementing secure electronic voting services both for remote and on-site elections.

The NLRB "requires a proven solution that supports mail, telephone, web-based and/or on-site electronic voting; that includes the necessary safeguards to ensure the accuracy, secrecy, observability, transparency, integrity, accountability, and auditability of Agency-conducted elections; and that has demonstrated experience in protecting similar type elections from both deliberate misconduct and simple error."

[Request for Information]

Full text of the Request for Information:

Synopsis:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is seeking industry solutions regarding the capacity, availability, methodology and interest of industry sources for procuring and implementing secure electronic voting services both for remote and on-site elections. This Request for Information (RFI) is for industry comments only and is not a Request for Proposals. The Government will not pay for any information provided in response to this RFI.

The NLRB is an independent Federal agency created by Congress in 1935 to administer and enforce the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or "the Act"), which is the primary Federal statute governing labor relations in the private sector. The purpose of the law is to serve the public interest by reducing interruptions in commerce caused by conflict between employers and employees. It seeks to do this by providing orderly processes for protecting and implementing the rights of employees and regulating the respective relationships between employees, their unions, and employers. The Act contains a statement of employees' bill of rights, which establishes freedom of association for purposes of participating in the practice and procedure of collective bargaining. Under the Act, the NLRB has two primary functions: (1) to conduct secret-ballot elections among employees to determine whether they wish to be represented by a union; and (2) to prevent and remedy statutorily defined unfair labor practices by employers and unions.

The five members of the National Labor Relations Board ("the Board"), as well as the General Counsel, are appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The Board and the General Counsel maintain a headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the agency also maintains a network of Regional or "Field" offices, each of which is under the direction of a Regional Director. The complete organizational structure and additional information on the NLRB may be found at the NLRB's internet web site at (http://www.nlrb.gov).

All NLRB proceedings originate from the filing of charges or petitions by employees, labor unions, and private employers who are engaged in interstate commerce. About 26,000 cases are received by the Board through its Regional, Sub-regional, and Resident Offices each year. The NLRB received 3,400 petitions in representation cases and conducted 2,085 elections in fiscal year 2008. Approximately 150 of these elections were conducted through the use of mail ballots. In the remainder of the elections, employees cast manual ballots in portable voting booths at designated sites, typically employer facilities.

Information Sought:
The NLRB's requirements are for the acquisition of electronic voting services to support conducting secret-ballot elections to determine representation issues. Specifically, the Agency requires a proven solution that supports mail, telephone, web-based and/or on-site electronic voting; that includes the necessary safeguards to ensure the accuracy, secrecy, observability, transparency, integrity, accountability, and auditability of Agency-conducted elections; and that has demonstrated experience in protecting similar type elections from both deliberate misconduct and simple error. With respect to electronic voting capabilities, the Agency specifically requests information, to the extent available, relating to what safeguards, if any, could be implemented to ensure that votes cast remotely were free from distractions or other interferences, including undue intimidation or coercion. The Agency also requests, to the extent available, information relating to experience regarding the level of participation achieved through remote electronic voting technology (vs. traditional on-site elections, whether manual or electronic).

The combination of the NLRB's continuing technological modernization, the numerous locations and size of offices, and varying end-user competency levels may add complexity to the electronic voting services solution.

If the NLRB decides to proceed, it plans to award a fixed price or fixed unit price contract with a base year and four option year terms. At present, the NLRB does not possess the necessary information to estimate the size of the award. It is noted that the NLRB prefers to execute pilot programs prior to full implementation.

Sources having the capability and/or concept solutions to meet the requirements above are invited to respond to this RFI. Any proprietary concepts or other information should be identified as such. Submitted data and information will not be returned. The NLRB is requesting interested vendors to submit their contact information and any information providing solutions for procuring electronic voting services as described in this synopsis by close of the RFI to Doug Wolf at doug.wolf@nlrb.gov.

Contracting Office Address:
National Labor Relations Board
1499 14th Street, N.W.doug.wolf@nlrb.gov
Washington, D.C. 20070

Place of Performance
Nationwide

Primary Point of Contact:
Doug Wolf, Senior Contracting Officer

Secondary Point of Contact
David L. Graham, Chief
Acquisitions Management Branch
david.graham@nlrb.gov
Added: Jun 10, 2010 7:43 am
ALL TECHNICAL QUESTIONSSHOULD BE REFERRED TO BRYAN BURNETT, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER:
EMAIL: bryan.burnett@nlrb.gov
TELEPHONE: 202-273-2555

ALL PROCUREMENT QUESTIONSSHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE CONTRACTING OFFICER, DOUGLAS S. WOLF.
Contracting Office Address:
1099 14th Street, N.W.
Washington, District of Columbia 20570
United States

Place of Performance:
NATIONWIDE

United States

Primary Point of Contact.:
Douglas S. Wolf,
CONTRACTING OFFICER
doug.wolf@nlrb.gov
Phone: 202-273-4218
Fax: 202-273-0071
Secondary Point of Contact:
DAVID L. GRAHAM,
CHIEF, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT BRANCH
david.graham@nlrb.gov
Phone: 202-307-4047
Fax: 202-273-0071

Full post as published by Ross' Employment Law Blog on June 10, 2010 (boomark / email).