§ 900.305 Duties of referendum agent. The referendum agent shall also: ( a ) For purposes of mailing, prepare a record of producers which will disclose the name of each such person, his address, the name of the handler who received the producer's milk during the representative period, and the name of the cooperative association, if any, which claims the right to vote for the producer. Such record may be compiled from readily available sources, including the following: ( 1 ) Records of the Department;
( 2 ) Producer records supplied by handlers;
( 3 ) Health authority records;
( 4 ) Certifications signed by dairy farmers who claim to be producers;
( 5 ) Any other reliable sources of information which may be available to the referendum agent.
( b ) Apply, as a guide, the following criteria in preparing a record of producers: ( 1 ) When the order requires approval by an appropriate health authority before a person meets the definition of producer, only those persons having such approval and who otherwise meet the definition may be regarded as producers. When the definition of producer requires the shipment of milk to a handler or a plant as well as health authority approval, only those persons having such approval and whose milk was received by a handler or at a plant may be regarded as producers.
( 2 ) When the order requires shipment to a handler or to a plant, without regard to health authority approval, a person may not be regarded as a producer, except as provided in paragraph (b)(6) of this section, unless his name appears on the handler's producer records.
( 3 ) In the case of a producer that is other than an individual, the business unit shall be regarded as the producer.
( 4 ) No person may be included in the record more than once although he may operate more than one farm, hold more than one health authority approval, or appear on more than one handler's producer records.
( 5 ) In the event the health authority records are not available, are inaccurate, or are incomplete, the appearance of the producer's name on a handler's records as an approved producer shall be prima facie evidence of health authority approval.
( 6 ) In the event any handler refuses or fails to make his records available to the referendum agent, a certification signed by the producer shall be regarded by the referendum agent as prima facie evidence that such person is eligible to vote.
( c ) Verify the information supplied by each cooperative association which wishes to vote on behalf of producers, as follows: ( 1 ) Examine the records of the cooperative association for the purpose of ascertaining whether each producer claimed by the cooperative association is a member of, stockholder in, or under contract with the cooperative association.
( 2 ) Identify the persons ascertained to be members of, stockholders in, or under contract with a cooperative association which wishes to vote on behalf of its producers with the names of producers which appear on the record compiled pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.
( 3 ) In determining whether a cooperative association may vote on behalf of a producer the following criteria shall be used: ( i ) The cooperative association may vote for each producer who is a member of, stockholder in, or under contract with such cooperative association on the date of the order directing that the referendum be conducted.
( ii ) The cooperative association may cast only one ballot for all such producers.
( iii ) Whenever more than one cooperative association claims the right to vote for a producer only the cooperative association which furnished evidence satisfactory to the referendum agent that such association was in fact marketing the milk of the producer on the date of the referendum order may vote for such producer.
[30 FR 15412, Dec. 15, 1965, as amended at 88 FR 82231, Nov. 24, 2023]