Last week the National Football League filed of an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the National Football League Players Association had failed to bargain in good faith for a new collective bargaining agreement. 

One issue involved in the charge is the NFLPA’s threat to decertify following the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement, in an attempt to remove the NFL’s non-statutory labor exemption from the antitrust laws. 

A number of stories appeared about the filing of the charge.  One of them, on NFL.com, attributed a number of statements to Nancy Cleeland, director of the NLRB’s Office of Public Affairs, regarding the Board’s procedures in a decertification election. 

One of those statements caught my eye: “Voting potentially could be done via voting booths, by mail and also over the internet, Cleeland said . . . .”  I wondered if this could be the first indication that the Board, which last June issued a request for information from vendors on electronic voting, is on the verge of actually implementing an electronic voting program. 

Apparently the statement caught eyes other than mine.  The story, which may still be referenced on NFL.com, has been “modified” and the reference to voting “over the internet” has been removed.