DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers union's 397,000 members will vote by mail this fall on whether they want to pick their leaders in direct elections.

       In a posting on his website, union monitor Neil Barofsky says ballots will be mailed by an election vendor starting at 10 a.m. Oct. 12. They must be returned by 5 p.m. Nov. 12.

       They'll be counted as soon as possible, and Barofsky will announce the results.

       Barofsky was appointed by a federal judge as part of a settlement that avoided a government takeover of the union after a wide-ranging corruption scandal. The vote on direct election of leaders also was part of the settlement.

       Currently, union leaders are chosen every four years at a convention, with the delegates picked by local union offices. But the new slate of leaders is picked by the outgoing president, and seldom is there serious opposition.