Category talk:Elections

Please add questions to the elections process here and also add suggestions how we can improve the process. This page is open for anybody.

Member Registry

Does OSGeo have a register of current members

• Yes: http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/members/voting_members.html
• See Also: OSGeo_Advocate which provides a brief profile of many of the OSGeo members

Does the Foundation know who voted and who became inactive?

• Yes. This information is maintained by the OSGeo secretary and reflected on the Charter Membership list which is plublicly available (so far no drops-outs).
• All Charter Members are contacted before elections. During the election period members are reminded several times.
• After elections Charter Members who did not participate are contacted and informed if their status has changed to dormant due to inactivity.

Bylaws

Does anybody understand our bylaws?

• Maybe?
• Do we need to keep them as they are?
• Is there immediate need to change them?

Section 7.7 Automatic Termination.

• Currently Charter Members who have failed to take part in three consecutive elections are moved to dormant. There is no other regular interaction with or between the Charter Members, therefore there are also no meeting minutes or similar to record attendance.
  • Actually the stated criterion is 'participated in meetings' which is very different from voting.

Role of the CRO

The Chief Returning Officer administers elections.

• Is the CRO allowed to nominate members? Thsi is unclear. There has been one complaint in 2012 but no further action was taken. To avoid further discussion the CRO in 2013 (Arnulf Christl) decided to refrain from nominating individuals.
• Is the CRO allowed to take part in the elections (given she is a Charter Member at the time of the elections)?
  • Yes (otherwise it may be hard to find anybody taking on the job)

Please add your questions, ideas, answers.