Nieves, et al., 2026 ESD 104
OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
)
IN RE: AMILCAR NIEVES, ) Protest Decision 2026 ESD 104
PAMELA RICHARDSON, )
) Issued: June 2, 2026
Protesters. )
) OES Case No. P-118-031126
)
INTRODUCTION
Amilcar Nieves and Pamela Richardson filed this protest against Sumar Noble and Frankie Alvarado, members of the “Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate,” alleging that Noble and Alvarado visited the Tyler, Texas UPS facility and “actively and intentionally targeted members and employees in Mail Ballot Solicitation,” including instructing a UPS employee how to mark her ballot for the slate, in violation of the Rules for the 2025-2026 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”).
Dolores C. Hall of the Office of the Election Supervisor (“OES”) investigated these protests.
INVESTIGATION
Amilcar Nieves reported that on March 10, 2026, Sumar Noble and Frankie Alvarado, members of the “Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate,” visited the Tyler, Texas UPS facility to campaign for the slate. Nieves, who does not work at the Tyler facility, saw photos and video posted by Alvarado to the Facebook page Concerned Members of Local 767 and filed this protest because he believed that Noble and Alvarado were telling people how to mark their ballots, in violation of the Rules.
The OES interviewed Sumar Noble, a Business Agent for Local 767 having jurisdiction over UPS facilities in Haslet and DFW. Noble said that she was a candidate for alternate delegate on the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate, and visited the Tyler UPS facility on March 10, 2026 to campaign for the slate. She identified the woman in the video holding her ballot as Abbie Gilbert. She said that Gilbert approached her with her ballot, stated she wanted to vote for the entire Reeves slate, and asked how to mark her ballot to do so. Noble told her she could mark the slate box and that would be a vote for everyone on the slate. Noble did not ask Gilbert to see her ballot, did not ask her to give her ballot to her, and did not take her ballot. In the other photo submitted by the protester, Noble was handing out campaign material that had a picture on the back showing how to mark the ballot for the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate.
Alvarado acknowledged taking the photos and video that are the subject of the protest and posting them to the Facebook page Concerned Members of Local 767. He is a UPS feeder driver in Arlington and a candidate for alternate delegate on the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate.
The OES also interviewed Abbie Gilbert, a driver for the Tyler UPS facility, who identified herself as the person in a photo and video that are the subjects of this protest. Gilbert said that when she arrived at work on March 10, 2026, she was very excited to see Noble and Alvarado because she had just received her ballot and wanted to show them that she was voting for the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate. She said that Alvarado videotaped her showing Noble how she was marking her ballot. Gilbert saw and heard Noble and Alvarado talking to others, handing out campaign cards and asking people to vote for the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate, but did not see any other ballots.
APPLICABLE LAW
Although the protesters do not cite a particular rule that they believe was violated, we interpret their protest to allege a violation of Article II, Section 15 of the Rules, “Prohibition on Interference with Voting.” That rule provides:
No person or entity shall limit or interfere with the right of any IBT member to vote, including, but not necessarily limited to, the right to independently determine how to cast his/her vote, the right to mark his/her vote in secret and the right to mail the ballot himself/herself. No person or entity may encourage or require an IBT member to mark his/her ballot in the presence of another person or to give his/her ballot to any person or entity for marking or mailing.
Any violation of this rule may result in disqualification of a candidate who benefits from the violation, referral of the matter to the Government for appropriate action under law (including the Final Order) or such other remedy as the Election Supervisor deems appropriate.
The instructions for balloting included in ballot packages shall contain these prohibitions and shall urge members to promptly vote and return their ballots.
This provision is violated where a member asks for and receives from another member that member’s ballot. Long, 2006 ESD 82 (February 13, 2006); Berg, 2006 ESD 278 (May 30, 2006), aff’d, 06 EAM 46 (June 20, 2006). We have also found it violated where a member agrees to accept a ballot from another for the purpose of mailing, even where the member receiving the ballot did not request it. Teamsters United, 2016 ESD 165 (April 8, 2016); Hoffa-Hall 2016, 2016 ESD 325 (November 3, 2016). No such conduct occurred here.
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
On the morning of March 10, 2026, Sumar Noble, a Business Agent for Local 767 having jurisdiction over UPS facilities in Haslet and DFW, and Frankie Alvarado, a UPS feeder driver in Arlington, visited the UPS facility in Tyler, Texas to campaign for the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate. They handed out campaign cards that had, on one side, a copy of the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate portion of the ballot with the slate’s box marked.
Around 9:20 a.m., Abbie Gilbert arrived for her shift as a UPS driver. She was excited to see Noble and Alvarado because she had just received her ballot and had it in her truck. She retrieved the ballot from her truck because she wanted Noble and Alvarado to see her mark the ballot for the Reeves Slate. Alvarado videotaped her showing Noble how she was marking her ballot, and later uploaded the video to the Facebook group Concerned Members of Local 767. Gilbert then started her shift and left in her UPS truck. She did not see anyone else with a ballot.
Gilbert initiated the marking of her ballot in front of Noble and Alvarado because she wanted them to see her voting for the Teamsters United 767 – The Dave Reeves Slate, but there was no request for her to do so. See Berg, 2006 ESD 278 (May 30, 2006), aff’d, 06 EAM 46 (June 20, 2006) (finding no violation where members voluntarily showed their ballots as opposed to providing them to requestor). The only other evidence provided by the protesters is a photo of Noble handing a campaign card to an individual, which she has a right to do.
Accordingly, we find no evidence of a violation of the Rules and DENY this protest.
APPELLATE RIGHTS
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. Any party requesting a hearing must comply with the requirements of Article XIII, Section 2(i). All parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely in any such appeal upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Election Appeals Master
Barbara Jones
Election Appeals Master
IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.com
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Service may be accomplished by email, using the “reply all” function on the email by which the party received this decision. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Timothy S. Hillman
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones, IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.com
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE):
Pamela Richardson
Frankie Alvarado
Sumar Noble
John Palmer
Richard Hooker
Edward M. Gleason, Jr.,
James L. Donovan Jr.
David Suetholz
Will Bloom
Ken Paff
Thomas Kokalas
Timothy S. Hillman
Paul Dever
Dolores Hall
Ellyn Lazar
Kelly Hogan