Can AFM locals vote online?

Short answer: For officer elections, it's up to the local's bylaws. For contract ratification, the AFM Bylaws (2023) expressly allow online or telephone balloting through an independent organization approved by the International President's office, where local bylaws or the Executive Board authorize it (Art. 5, Sec. 29(d)).

Verdict	Method left to local bylaws
Ratification / strike votes	Electronic voting permitted with International approval
Confidence	Medium
Last verified	21 October 2026

What the text says

How local officer elections are run

"All Local Officers must be nominated and elected in conformity with Local and AFM Bylaws and, except for Canadian Locals, in conformity with the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended. ... In elections of Local Officers, Convention Delegates, and alternate Delegates, no vote shall be counted for a person who has not been duly nominated (i.e. write-in votes)."

— Art. 5, Sec. 20 (Local Elections), p. 22

"Local Union Delegates to the Convention (and alternates for those Delegates who may be unable to attend the sessions) shall be elected by the Locals either at annual, regular, or special meetings or at regular or special elections, but in any event by secret ballot."

— Art. 17 (Conventions), Sec. 5, p. 81

Electronic, internet, phone or remote voting

"If it is necessary to hold a ratification by an electronic balloting method (e.g. online, telephone), then all voting shall be done by electronic balloting, provided that ratification by electronic balloting has been authorized by the Local's bylaws or action of the Local's Executive Board, and provided that the Local selects an independent organization approved by the International President's Office to conduct the voting."

— Art. 5, Sec. 29(d)(i) (Ratification by Electronic Balloting), p. 26

"In all cases, the method of voting must (1) ensure that the member casting the vote is eligible to do so, (2) ensure that the member casting the vote cannot be identified with the vote cast, and (3) afford sufficient safeguards to protect the integrity and security of the voting system. Further, in the case of electronic balloting, an appropriate accommodation must be made for a voter who lacks the technology or equipment necessary to cast their vote."

— Art. 5, Sec. 29(d)(i), cont., p. 26

"The International President's Office shall maintain a list of one or more vendors whose electronic balloting services meet the requirements set forth in this Section."

— Art. 5, Sec. 29(d)(iii), p. 27

"1. A Local board, committee or other assembly that is established by the Local's Bylaws may conduct its meetings by electronics means only if the Local's Bylaws expressly permit it. ... 3. A meeting held by electronic means must utilize a technology that permits simultaneous aural communication amongst the participants, e.g., telephone, videoconferencing, Skype, etc. (email, for example, does not meet the test)."

— IEB guideline 'Remote Electronic Meetings' [IEB 10/2012], items 1 and 3, p. 94

International approval of local bylaws or election rules

"Locals shall be required to adopt as part of their Local Constitution and Bylaws a provision to the effect that the Local Constitution and Bylaws shall be subject and subordinate to the AFM Bylaws and amendments and providing further that wherever conflict or discrepancy appears between the Local Constitution and Bylaws and the AFM Bylaws and amendments, the latter shall prevail."

— Art. 5, Sec. 1(a), p. 18

"The Local Secretary shall transmit the following information to the International President's office within 30 days after adoption or completion: (1) Changes in the Local's Constitution and Bylaws; ... (3) Reports on the results of the Local's elections;"

— Art. 5, Sec. 8(1),(3), p. 19-20

Contract ratification and strike votes

"Any CBA negotiated or renegotiated by a Local Union ... shall be subject to a secret ballot ratification by the eligible members in good standing who have worked under the previous agreement. In the event of a ratification held by meeting and secret ballot, there shall be no proxy or absentee ballots. If it is necessary to hold a ratification by mail, then all voting shall be by mail ballot."

— Art. 5, Sec. 29(c)(i) (Local Agreements), p. 26

"Ratification by electronic voting for a CBA negotiated by the AFM may be permitted at the discretion of the IEB or, in the case of Canadian National Agreements, at the discretion of the Vice President from Canada ... Such electronic balloting shall be conducted by an independent organization approved by the International President's office to conduct the voting."

— Art. 5, Sec. 29(d)(ii), p. 26

"Prior to a Local becoming involved in a strike, the Local shall receive strike authorization from the bargaining unit by a majority of those casting valid ballots in a secret ballot vote and shall notify the International President's office of the contemplated action..."

— Art. 5, Sec. 30, p. 27

Open questions

For local officer elections the Bylaws only require conformity with 'Local and AFM Bylaws' and the LMRDA, naming no method and requiring no International pre-approval of local bylaws (only subordination and transmittal of changes); the express electronic-balloting authorization in Art. 5, Sec. 29(d) is limited to contract ratification, and its International role is approval of the independent balloting organization, not of the method itself.

Context

LMRDA (private-sector) union; Art. 5, Sec. 20 itself exempts Canadian Locals from the LMRDA conformity requirement.
The 103rd AFM Convention (June 2026, Ottawa) considered Bylaw amendments; no post-2026 Bylaws text was found, so any 2026 changes to these provisions could not be confirmed.

The federal rules still apply

Federal law sits on top of every constitution. For unions covered by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), officer elections must meet Title IV's secret-ballot, notice and observer requirements however members vote. The Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) addresses remote electronic voting in its Compliance Tip Electing Union Officers Using Remote Electronic Voting Systems (updated December 10, 2024). The Tip describes safeguards for secrecy, observation and records, says it "does not offer unions safe harbor," and says each system is evaluated case by case. Federal-sector unions follow 29 CFR Part 458, which applies the same standards; postal unions are covered by the LMRDA. Locals made up entirely of state or local government employees are generally outside Title IV and follow state law and their own rules. OLMS Compliance Tip

Sources

Bylaws of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada — Revised September 15, 2023 (copy posted by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra; afm.org restricts the PDF to its members' section). https://hartfordsymphony.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2023_AFM_Bylaws.pdf (accessed 2026-10-21)
AFM Mission & Bylaws page (states the current Bylaws PDF is in the member section) — n/a. https://www.afm.org/mission-bylaws/ (accessed 2026-10-21)
Bylaws of the AFM (prior edition, comparison only) — Revised September 15, 2019 (copy posted by AFM Local 655). https://www.afm655.org/members/contracts/AFMBylaws.pdf (accessed 2026-10-21)

Not verified: afm.org states the current Bylaws PDF is available only in its members' section; the 2023 text used here is a copy posted by an employer (Hartford Symphony) and could not be compared against an afm.org copy or a DOL OLMS copy (OLMS search API returned server errors). No AFM local-election manual was found.

This page summarizes the published text of a union's governing documents. It is not legal advice and not an official interpretation by the union. Constitutions change at conventions, and locals' own bylaws matter. Confirm with your International and your counsel before changing how members vote. Spotted an error or a newer edition? Tell us at info@votem.com and we'll correct it.

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