+1. walu.
On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 9:58 PM Bope Christian <christianb...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear AFRINIC Members and Community, > > There has been much discussion about the results of the elections held > during the AGMM on 10 May 2018, and associated processes. > > I will try to answer these questions: > > > - What is the election process? > - What happened in previous years? > - What happened in 2018? > - What does the election process says about the “None of the above” > option? > - How should the result be interpreted when “None of the above” > receives the most votes? > - Does AFRINIC have an election appeal process? > - Should the result stand as previously announced? > - What are the future actions? > > > ## What is the Election Process? > > The Election Process (sometimes called the election guidelines) is > approved by the Board in terms of the Bylaws article 13.2: > > 13.2. The election of the Directors of the company shall be carried out > in line with the Election process approved by the Board. > > The current Election Process was revised and approved by the Board in 2014 > (Resolutions 201404.196 and 201411.218)*, *and is published at < > https://afrinic.net/en/community/elections/bod-election/process > <https://afrinic.n>>. > Under section 9.2, the following bullet points appear (the bullet numbers > are not in the original): > > [1] • Voters should only vote for one candidate per category/region. Each > mark on a ballot paper represents one vote. A ballot with more than one > mark per category/region will be considered spoilt, and not be counted. > > [2] • The ballot paper should provide voters with the option to not vote > for any candidate (a.k.a. "None of the Above"). > > [3] • This will be a secret ballot election. An inclusion of any personal > data on the ballot paper will invalidate the vote and will be counted as > spoilt. > > [4] • Elections will be closed as soon as the last member or proxy > present in the meeting room casts his/her vote. Candidates with the highest > number of votes in each category will be declared winners. > > [5] • In the event of a tie for an open position, voting for that > position will be repeated (Only by paper ballot) the same day until there > is a winner. > > [6] • All open positions shall be subject to an election process even if > there is only one candidate. In that event, if the option [none of the > above] got more votes than the only candidate, then the seat shall be > considered vacant and the Board will be requested to apply provisions of > the Bylaws to temporarily fill the vacant seat. > > ## What happened in previous years? > > The option to vote for “None of the above” has appeared on AFRINIC Board > election ballots every year since 2013. In 2017, the final computed results > contained scores for the “None of the above” option. Since those scores did > not make “none of the above” the winner, they were not mentioned in the > announcement of results published at < > https://afrinic.net/en/news/2139-results-of-afrinic-agmm-election> > > ## What happened in 2018? > > Three AFRINIC Board seats were up for election at the AGMM on 10 May > 2018. For all three seats, “None of the above” received the most votes, > and as a consequence, the seats have remained vacant for the time being. > This was the first time that ”None of the above” received the most votes > for any Board seat. The result was announced during the AGMM and later > published at < > https://afrinic.net/en/news/2391-results-of-afrinic-agmm-elections > > > ## What does the election process say about the “None of the above” option? > > Bullet point 2 in the election process specifies that “None of the above” > should appear as a choice for all seats, not only for seats where there is > only one candidate. > > Bullet point 4 in the election process specifies that the candidate with > the highest number of votes will be the winner. However, it is silent > about what happens if the highest number of votes goes to “None of the > above” instead of a candidate. > > Bullet point 6 in the election process specifies what happens when “None > of the above” gets the highest number of votes in an election with only one > candidate, but is silent about seats with multiple candidates. > > In summary, the election process is clear about what happens in an > election with one candidate when “None of the above” wins, but is silent > about what happens in an election with more than one candidate when “None > of the above” wins. > > ## How should the result be interpreted when “None of the above” receives > the most votes? > > It is a widely-accepted principle that, if a written process is silent on > some point, then the intent should be considered. > > The intended meaning of the “None of the above” option is clear in the > case of an election with only one candidate: bullet point 6 states that, if > “None of the above” gets the most votes, then the seat remains vacant. > > In an election with multiple candidates, we have already seen that bullet > point 2 requires a “None of the above” option, but it is silent about what > happens if that option receives the most votes. Some people have argued > that the seat should remain vacant (pointing to the intent behind bullet > point 6), and some have argued that the winner should be the candidate > other than “None of the above” who received the most votes (pointing to the > text of bullet point 4). > > The fact that bullet point 2 explicitly requires a “None of the above” > option for all seats, suggests that the intention was for “None of the > above” to have a meaning different from an abstention. After all, if > voting for “None of the above” was intended to have the same meaning as an > abstention, then there would be no need for a “None of the above” option on > the ballot, and voters could simply abstain from voting for that seat. > > ## Does AFRINIC have an election appeal process? > > There isn’t any documented process for appealing the result of an AFRINIC > Board election. The committee handling the election (Nomination committee > and Election committee) should make sure that the election guideline is > explain clearly to members before the process start in order to avoid > misinterpretation > > ## Should the result stand as previously announced? > > The Board recognises the objections that were raised a few days after the > election, on Wednesday 16 May 2018, but notes that no objections were > raised on the day of the election, Thursday 10 May 2018. The Board has > decided that the results stand as they were announced immediately after the > votes were counted. That means that the affected seats remain vacant for > the time being. > > ## What are the future actions? > > The Board recognises that the process does not make it clear what happens > when “None of the above” receives the most votes in an election with > multiple candidates. The Board would like to encourage the committee > handling the election in future to ensure that members understand the > election guidelines before voting starts. Furthermore, the Board intends to > review the election process for future elections which will include a > public consultation. The Board will also consider an appeal process during > the review of the guideline > > The Board intends to fill the vacant seats in terms of the Bylaws article > 13.14. To this end, the Board has called for expressions of interest; see < > https://www.afrinic.net/en/news/2395-filling-of-the-casual-vacancies > <https://www.afrinic.net/en/news/2395->>. The seats to be filled are the > three seats that were included in the election on 10 May 2018, and a fourth > seat that was not included in that election. > > > Best Regards, > Christian D. Bope, Ph.D > Chairman, AFRINIC Board > > > > _______________________________________________ > Community-Discuss mailing list > Community-Discuss@afrinic.net > https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss >
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