LEWISTON — The National Labor Relations Board is impounding the ballots by Bates College employees about whether they want a union until the panel makes a decision on the college’s request to separate about 85 faculty members who are not tenured or on a tenure-track from other staff seeking to unionize.

The board’s Boston office had planned to count the ballots Monday but took no action because the legal issue surrounding which employees are eligible to unionize has not been decided by the NLRB.

The Maine Service Employees Organization has urged the federal agency to reject Bates’ appeal.

It is not clear when that decision might be made or when the count might proceed.