(A) When a petition is filed, in accordance with rules prescribed by the state employment relations board:

1. (1) By any employee or group of employees, or any individual or employee organization acting in their behalf, alleging that at least thirty per cent of the employees in an appropriate unit wish to be represented for collective bargaining by an exclusive representative, or asserting that the designated exclusive representative is no longer the representative of the majority of employees in the unit, the board shall investigate the petition, and if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists, provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice to the parties;
2. (2) By the employer alleging that one or more employee organizations has presented to it a claim to be recognized as the exclusive representative in an appropriate unit, the board shall investigate the petition, and if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists, provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice to the parties. If the board finds upon the record of a hearing that a question of representation exists, it shall direct an election and certify the results thereof. No one may vote in an election by proxy. The board may also certify an employee organization as an exclusive representative if it determines that a free and untrammelled election cannot be conducted because of the employer's unfair labor practices and that at one time the employee organization had the support of the majority of the employees in the unit.

(C) The board shall conduct representation elections by secret ballot cast, at the board's discretion, by mail or electronically or in person, and at times and places selected by the board subject to the following:

1. (1) The board shall give no less than ten days' notice of the time and place of an election;
2. (2) The board shall establish rules concerning the conduct of any election including, but not limited to, rules to guarantee the secrecy of the ballot;
3. (3) The board may not certify a representative unless the representative receives a majority of the valid ballots cast;
4. (4) Except as provided in this section, the board shall include on the ballot a choice of "no representative";
5. (5) In an election where none of the choices on the ballot receives a majority, the board shall conduct a runoff election. In that case, the ballot shall provide for a selection between the two choices or parties receiving the highest and the second highest number of ballots cast in the election.
6. (6) The board may not conduct an election under this section in any appropriate bargaining unit within which a board-conducted election was held in the preceding twelve-month period, nor during the term of any lawful collective bargaining agreement between a public employer and an exclusive representative. Petitions for elections may be filed with the board no sooner than one hundred twenty days or later than ninety days before the expiration date of any collective bargaining agreement, or after the expiration date, until the public employer and exclusive representative enter into a new written agreement. For the purposes of this section, extensions of agreements do not affect the expiration date of the original agreement.