The members of the United Auto Workers (UWA) appear to have voted overwhelmingly to move to a direct voting system for choosing their union leadership — “one member, one vote.” With all votes counted as of December 2, direct elections had the support of 63.6 percent of voters.

If the result holds, it will be a historic win for reformers in one of the nation’s most important unions, where members have pushed for this change for decades.

The referendum is the product of a consent decree between the UAW and the US Department of Justice, after a years-long series of prosecutions of top union officials on corruption charges ranging from embezzling union funds for personal use to accepting bribes from an employer, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA, formerly Chrysler, now Stellantis), in exchange for accepting contract terms more favorable for the company.