Re: [gnso-osc-ops] GCOT Documents: Voting, Term Limits, and Absences

[Avri Doria <avri@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I tend to prefer absentee voting as a rarity.  Something done on only the most 
important votes.  If not, it means no vote will ever be completed in a council 
meeting as there is rarely ever a meeting that everyone attends.  i think this 
is  a bad result and slows down a slow council even further.

so I do not support the option listed below.

a.

On 26 Mar 2010, at 16:30, Ken Bour wrote:

> Wolf-Ulrich, Ken, and GCOT Members:
>  
> I think I understand the objection raised by Wolf and seconded by Ken.   
> Based upon feedback that I received from other Council Members, there may be 
> circumstances when absentee voting is not appropriate and we might want to 
> provide an option to handle such conditions -- even if rare.   Suppose we try 
> restructuring the language so that the default condition is that absentee 
> voting is allowed exceptin a rare circumstance, which would then require the 
> agreement of the Chair and all Vice-Chairs present.  See new version of 4.4.1 
> below (the others are presented for context). 
>  
> 4.4.1  Council Members who are absent from a meeting at the time of a vote 
> will be extended the opportunity to cast a ballot using alternative means 
> (see 4.4.3) except in a rare circumstance when its use is deemed 
> inappropriate.   If such an inappropriate circumstance arises, the rationale 
> for suspending absentee balloting must be announced in advance of the vote by 
> the Chair and any decision to suspend requires verbal confirmation by all 
> Vice-Chairs present.  In such a circumstance(s), and only for the affected 
> vote(s), absentee voting will be temporarily disallowed. 
>  
> 4.4.2  Absentee votes must be submitted within the announced time limit, 
> which shall be seventy-two (72) hours from the meeting’s adjournment.  In 
> exceptional circumstances, announced at the time of the vote, the Chair may 
> reduce this time to twenty-four (24) hours or extend the time to a maximum of 
> seven (7) calendar days, provided such amendment is verbally confirmed by all 
> Vice-Chairs present.  
>  
> 4.4.3  The GNSO Secretariat will administer, record, and tabulate absentee 
> votes according to these procedures and will provide reasonable means for 
> transmitting and authenticating absentee ballots, which could include 
> telephone, e- mail, web-based interface, or other technologies as may become 
> available. 
>  
> The above solution is much more in keeping with my original reason for 
> recommending an alteration to this section of the GOP and I thank Wolf and 
> Ken for raising their concerns.   
>  
> Does it satisfactorily resolve the essence of the objections?   
>  
> Ken Bour
>  
> From: KnobenW@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:KnobenW@xxxxxxxxxx] 
> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 12:11 PM
> To: ken.bour@xxxxxxxxxxx; gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: AW: [gnso-osc-ops] GCOT Documents: Voting, Term Limits, and Absences
>  
> Thanks, Ken.
>  
> I don't feel comfortable with the modified 4.4.1 leaving it up to the Chair / 
> VCs to "grant" an opportunity for absentee voting. What in case if they don't 
> find consensus on that? I'd rather prefer to allow absentee voting in any 
> case - iterative voting seems a bit artificial - or keep it restricted to the 
> cases as before.
> The other modofications of Chapter 4 are ok to me.
>  
> Section 2.1 - Council member term limits: agreed
>  
> Section 3.8 - Absences and vacancies: separate comment shall follow
>  
>  
> Regards 
> Wolf-Ulrich
> 
>  
>  
> Von: owner-gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx] Im 
> Auftrag von Ken Bour
> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 24. März 2010 23:32
> An: gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx
> Betreff: [gnso-osc-ops] GCOT Documents: Voting, Term Limits, and Absences
> 
> GCOT:
>  
> I have modified three documents and present them to the Work Team for review. 
>    I suggest taking them up in the order presented below... 
>  
> 1)      Section 2.1-Council Member Term Limits
> a)      Changes to 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 per GCOT’s teleconference on 24 March 
> (redlined).
> 2)      Chapter 4-Voting  [Revised 24 March 2010 and marked as OSC Version 
> #2] 
> a)      4.3-Motions and Votes:  added language to clarify that a 
> reason/explanation may be provided when entering Y and N votes in addition to 
> abstentions when it is always required.   This matter was raised by Steve 
> Metalitz at the OSC meeting in Nairobi. 
> b)     Section 4.4-Absentee Voting:  replacement language to permit alternate 
> voting mechanisms (e.g. electronic) when approved by the Chair and ratified 
> by all Vice-Chairs present. 
> c)      Section 4.5-Abstentions:  added a new clause (see 4.5.3-c-vi) that 
> occurred to me when writing the Absences material (below).   A Temporary 
> Alternate, if/when it affects a Council officer (e.g. Chair or Vice-Chair), 
> should not imply that the TA assumes that officer’s responsibilities.   I 
> wanted to make that explicit to avoid any potential confusion. 
> 3)      Section 3.8-Absences and Vacancies
> a)      Complete replacement for the original 3.8 to include handling:  
> incidental absences, leaves of absence (planned and unplanned), and 
> vacancies.   The vacancies material was drafted in response to Steve 
> Metalitz’ question at the Nairobi OSC session as to whether a vacancy would 
> result in a reduction to the voting denominator.   The procedures were 
> previously silent on that matter, so I thought it should be addressed.   
>  
> Note:  the above revisions have not been reviewed by Legal. 
>  
> Please let me know if there is anything else that I can do to assist the GCOT 
> in completing these remaining sections. 
>  
> Ken Bour
>  
> P.S.  I will begin drafting the generalized Board Seat Elections material 
> which will go into Section 2.4 of the GOP replacing Annex 1.
>