Locations and times for Tuesday and Wednesday’s vote on graduate student unionization have been released. Voting locations are assigned to voters by last name.
A–E Regenstein Library, Room A11
1100 East 57th Street
F–K Hinds Laboratory, Room 176
5734 South Ellis Avenue
L–R Kent Chemical Laboratory, Room 114
1020 East 58th Street
S–Z Stuart Hall, Cox Lounge
5835 South Greenwood Avenue
All voting locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. October 17–18. Voters must present either a state-issued photo ID or a University of Chicago student ID.
On Twitter, Graduate Students United (GSU) criticized the decision to designate voting location by name.
“In the last ~24 hours, a new wrinkle has emerged—polling sites are now assigned by last name. It’s a burden. But it won’t stop us,” GSU wrote. “So is this last-minute shift an obstacle? Does it make it a bit harder to vote? Yes. But we are NOT going to let it stop us.”
In another tweet, GSU said, “Thing is, we’re kind of busy organizing, especially with their newest effort to complicate voting.” It is unclear whether the “their” in the Twitter remarks refers to the University or the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). GSU did not respond to requests for clarification.
When asked whether GSU’s tweets could be directed at the University, University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus said, “The Regional Director of the NLRB decides all logistics around the election.”
“The NLRB also schedules the times, locations and the alphabetical breakdown of the polling locations. So the assertion that there are ‘new changes to the voting locations’ is inaccurate,” Sainvilus said.
Locations are open to all voters, regardless of last name. However, GSU wrote on their website that per NLRB regulations, the ballots of those who vote at an undesignated location “will be subject to challenge to ensure no duplicate voting. Challenged votes will only be counted if they need to be.”
