[gnso-osc-ops] Voting Remedy Procedures

["Ken Bour" <ken.bour@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

GCOT Members:

 

With respect to Wolf-Ulrich?s questions below, I just want to clarify a
couple of points:

 

1)      As I read Rob Hoggarth?s message to Tim Ruiz yesterday, he did not
state that abstentions are not be permitted without going through a SG/C
consultation process.   His comment applied only to the exercise of a voting
remedy (proxy), not the abstention itself.   Whether an abstention can be
registered by a Councilor without a SG/C?s prior approval depends entirely
on that organization?s internal rules as reflected in its charter.   I
happen to be aware that some charters are being re-drafted to require
Councilors to provide advance notice precisely so that a voting remedy may
be exercised (see point 2 below).   As these changes take effect, there may
come a time when abstentions and planned absences always require
pre-approval and consultation with SG/Cs.   As we know, any abstention or
absence that is unremedied is treated as an effective ?No? vote based on the
fact that the denominators never change.   

2)      According to the new abstention procedures (see Section 4.5), to
effect any voting remedy (e.g. voting direction, proxy, and temporary
alternate) requires two steps that must be completed BEFORE the Council
meeting at which the remedy will be exercised (see 4.5.4): 

a.      The Councilor must notify his/her SG/C of the circumstances leading
to a declared abstention including such important information as the Council
meeting date, affected motions, etc. (see 4.5.4-a); and

b.      A SG/C officer must provide an official communication to the
Secretariat indicating what remedy is being applied (see Section 4.5.4-b).
Also, as Chuck pointed out, for two of the remedies (voting direction and
proxy), the SG/C must affirm that it has established a voting position on
the matter at issue.   [Note:  as you may recall, the principle governing
this provision is that the SG/C owns the vote, not the individual Councilor.
If the Councilor is unable to exercise a vote, his/her organization has the
responsibility to determine whether a remedy should be invoked and, if so,
which one].   

 

Team members may not be aware that Staff has created and published two new
tools to assist in executing the above procedures:

1)      Sample emails (covering various circumstances) have been developed
to handle 2-a above (see
http://gnso.icann.org/council/visual-procedures-map-en.htm).

2)      An online notification form is now available to permit SG/Cs to
officially communicate their intention to remedy an abstention (see
http://gnso.icann.org/council/abstention-notification-form-en.htm).

 

The GNSO Operating Procedures and the above tools are accessible at:
http://gnso.icann.org/council/docs.html

 

Staff has made all SG/Cs aware that we are happy to walk organizations
through the visual map and online form so that everyone is comfortable with
the new voting remedy procedures.   So far, the Registries SG has taken
Staff up on its offer.  

 

I look forward to further discussion on this timely topic.

 

Ken Bour

 

From: owner-gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of KnobenW@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 7:12 AM
To: gnso-osc-ops@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: robert.hoggarth@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gnso-osc-ops] WG: [council] Proxy Voting Procedures e.a.

 

Team,

 

prior to the GCOT call next week I'd like to share some questions which came
up during the council meeting yesterday with regards to "abstentions" and in
particular "proxy voting" as settled in the rules of procedure.

 

My personal question was whether abstentions in general may be not permitted
without going through the SG/constit. consultation process in advance (as
described in the rules). That was denied by Rob Hoggarth.

 

The same question was raised regarding proxy voting (see attached
correspondence). Here it was answered in the affirmative.

 

I think we should take some minutes to reach clear understanding.

 


Best regards 
Wolf-Ulrich 

  _____  

Von: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Im
Auftrag von Stéphane Van Gelder
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 8. September 2010 22:36
An: Gomes, Chuck
Cc: Council GNSO; robert.hoggarth@xxxxxxxxx; ken.bour@xxxxxxxxxxx
Betreff: Re: [council] Proxy Voting Procedures

Thanks Chuck. I had read that very article as I prepared for today's meeting
yesterday, as I was looking at the various links pertaining to absences and
voting that Glen sent to the Council list before this meeting. 

 

I did not have the same understanding as you re the requirement to request
for a proxy in advance of the meeting (where does it say that in sub-section
i. below?). I would argue that in Tim's case, the appointing organization,
i.e. the RrSG, had established a position. This was not 'stated' on the
public Council list, but article i. does not say this should be done in this
way. I agree there is ambiguity here and my intent is not to second-guess
the decision you made in today's meeting. But as this processes are still a
bit new to us all, I just want to make sure we iron out some of the wrinkles
so that if we have this type of situation again, we know how to handle it.

 

Thanks,

 

Stéphane

 

Le 8 sept. 2010 à 19:25, Gomes, Chuck a écrit :





Here is my response to Stéphane?s question regarding the GNSO Operating
Procedures (GOP) requirements regarding proxy voting.

Here is the applicable excerpt from the GOP, Section 4.5.3.b, Remedies:

?Proxy Voting


 

The second method to be considered in avoiding the consequences of an
abstention is the use of proxy voting, where the vote of an abstaining
Councilor is transferred to another GNSO Councilor.


 

i. For abstentions declared by Councilors not appointed by the Nominating
Committee and where voting direction is not a viable remedy, the appointing
organization may transfer the vote of the abstaining Councilor to: (1) the
House Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA), (2) another of its Constituency
Councilors (where applicable), or (3) another Councilor within the
Stakeholder Group. The appointing organization must be able to establish an
affirmative or negative voting position, subject to provisions contained in
its Charter or Bylaws, on the applicable measure/motion for which one of its
Councilors has declared an intention to abstain. The Councilor to whom the
vote is transferred shall exercise a vote in line with the appointing
organization?s stated position. 

ii. If an abstention is declared by a House NCA, once formal notification
has occurred pursuant to the procedures in Paragraph 4.5.4-a, a proxy is
automatically transferred to the GNSO Council?s unaffiliated NCA
(hereinafter Council NCA) and any vote cast will be counted within the House
to which the abstaining NCA is assigned. The Council NCA may exercise only
one proxy at a time; therefore, the first abstention remedy properly
transferred to the Council NCA, including all measures/motions specified,
takes precedence. It should be noted that, because NCAs do not have an
appointing organization, as defined in these procedures (see Section 1.3.1),
to provide specific voting direction, the Council NCA may exercise his/her
best judgment, including abstaining, on the matter at issue. If the Council
NCA abstains or does not cast a vote for any other reason, no further
remedies are available and the automatic proxy will be nullified. The
original House NCA will be recorded in the minutes as having abstained from
the vote.?

If I interpret the above correctly, for proxies to have been allowed in
today?s meeting the following would have need to have happened in advance:
The appointing organization of the Councilor who has to abstain (because of
planned absence or other reasons) ?must be able to establish an affirmative
or negative voting position? and that would have needed to have sent to
Secretary.  I believe Staff has prepared a template to facilitate this.
That did not happen in any of the cases where proxies were requested today.

I cc?d Rob and Ken so that they can correct me if my interpretation is in
error.

Chuck