The Marine Clerks Association, ILWU Local 63, is a union that represents marine clerks working in the port shipping industry. As part of their operations, they conduct a crucial union vote twice a year, ensuring fair and efficient elections for their members. Robert Maynez, Director of Contract Administration and Arbitration, oversees this process and is responsible for ensuring that election results are posted by 5pm, as required by the union’s constitution. To achieve this goal, an efficient, accurate, and reliable ballot processing system is essential.
Before 2007, the union relied on an aging optical mark reading system that was originally designed for academic testing. The ballot forms were based on a custom template created by a former programmer, and after his retirement, the team struggled with maintaining the system. The process became cumbersome, with issues such as fold lines or slightly cut-off barcodes causing scanning errors. In some cases, ballots were damaged due to Local 63’s envelope opening machine and had to be physically repaired with tape to be processed. If the repair job was not perfect, the ballots would not scan. These challenges led to long processing times, with the team spending up to four hours correcting and scanning ballots before finalizing results. With the strict deadline of 5pm, this added unnecessary stress to an already high-stakes process.
After hearing about Gravic’s solution from another union branch, ILWU Local 63 adopted Remark Office OMR to streamline their ballot processing. With the addition of Remark, the new system drastically improved their efficiency, reducing the time required to process 800 ballots from four hours to just an hour and a half—including the time needed to correct any issues! Remark Office OMR provided more accurate results, eliminating previous scanning issues and allowing for the detection and correction of crossed-out or improperly marked bubbles. The flexibility of the software ensured that ballots with minor imperfections could still be processed without the need for physical repairs. Mr. Maynez commented that, “With Remark we are able to produce more accurate results and cut our processing time in half.”
By implementing Remark Office OMR, the Marine Clerks Association, ILWU Local 63 has significantly improved the speed, accuracy, and reliability of their election process. The reduced processing time and stress-free workflow have made a tangible difference in their biannual voting. Robert Maynez praises Remark, stating, “I highly recommend Remark Office OMR for conducting your elections. You will save time and have more accurate results. And the customer service is excellent. I’ve had no issues reaching a representative to help me with the product. The only factor to carefully consider is that customer service closes down by 3pm PST, so it’s best to keep that in mind on the day of running ballots.” With a streamlined and dependable system in place, ILWU Local 63 can now conduct their elections with confidence, ensuring that results are posted on time while minimizing the effort required to get there.
Thank you Mr. Maynez and your team for the support!