The Election Procedure as shown below, is adopted as the Inkscape Project’s official method for electing new members.
A majority vote of the current board members is required for the following matter.
Adopt Election Procedure version 3, as shown in Addendum for the Inkscape Board’s official procedure for holding Board Elections. Diverging from this procedure is not allowed without board approval.
| Board Member | |
|---|---|
| Bryce Harrington | b. |
| Tavmjong Bah | b. |
| Josh Andler | b. |
| Jon Cruz | |
| Ted Gould | b. |
| Johan Engelen | b. |
| MentalGuy |
The procedure detailed in the addendum derives from directions given in past elections, and incorporates ideas from X.org’s recent board elections. Notably, in the past we’ve elected single individuals, but this procedure covers electing several members at the same time.
File: election_procedure.txt
Inkscape is holding elections for ${NUM_SEATS} new Board Members.
${INTRODUCTION_TEXT}
Typically the board votes on things such as project fund expenditures (travel, conferences, marketing materials for events, etc), trademark related issue, other legal issues that arise, etc. The board does not have responsibility currently for technical decisions for the project, and does not handle social/community issues where there are no financial or legal aspects to the problem.
Board membership requires a commitment of time: At a minimum you will be expected to participate in votes on the mailing list, which typically occur with a frequency of about 0 to 3 per month. You are required to be on the board mailing list, which has a volume of about 30-50 emails per month; you’re not required to participate in the discussions, but it is very strongly encouraged. We also solicit volunteers from the board to serve as as event managers, team leaders, fundraising coordinators, etc. - Again, not a requirement, but we value board members who can shoulder such duties for the project.
As specified in Section 6 or our charter we maintain a committee of seven project members. Section 6 reads as follows:
“6. Representation of the Project in the Conservancy. The Developers, each a signatory hereto, shall represent the Project in its official communication with the Conservancy. There shall be seven Developers (together, the”Committee“), elected by the community members of the Project listed in the Project’s AUTHORS file (the”Community Members“). Each Developer shall continue to serve until he or she resigns from the position. The Developers may be removed from the position at any time by a majority vote of the Community Members. Upon the resignation or removal of a Developer, the Community Members shall elect a replacement Developer to serve on the Committee. The Committee will elect a single individual to communicate with the Conservancy (the”Representative“) and shall notify the Conservancy promptly following the election of a new Representative. The Representative will have the authority to instruct the Conservancy on the Project’s behalf on all matters. This section may be modified by a vote of at least 3/4 of the Community Members, with the consent of the Conservancy, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.”
| Event | Timeframe |
|---|---|
| * Kickoff Announcement" | ${date} |
| * Candidacy period Start: | ${date} |
| * Candidacy period End: | ${date + 2 weeks} (08:00 UTC) |
| * Publication of Candidates + Start Q&A | ${date + 2 weeks} |
| * Election Start: | ${date + 2 weeks} |
| * Election End: | ${date + 2 weeks + 2 weeks} (08:00 UTC) |
| * Results Posted: | ${date + 2 weeks + 2 weeks + 2 days} |
Inkscape developers listed in the AUTHORS file as of ${AUTHORS_DATE} are considered Official Members for purposes of this election, as per our Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement with the Software Freedom Conservancy. Only Official Members may run for the board positions, and only Official Members may vote for them.
In this election we will be using the Inkscape website for conducting the vote, so you’ll need to register with the website to cast your vote.
${HOWTO_VOTE_DIRECTIONS}
The Inkscape Board elects by majority vote an Election Proctor who will run a given election and ensure it’s successful completion. The Election Proctor has the responsibility for ensuring the voting is done according to procedure, assuring that the Vote is accurately tallied, and announcing the finalized result of the Vote.
Once the vote has been finalized, the selected individual(s) immediately become Board Members.
The Community may challenge the Election Proctor’s tally within 30 days of the vote finalization, by gathering a number of signatures from Official Members exceeding 2/3rds of the total number of Votes cast declaring the vote to be inaccurate. Should this happen, the Vote is nullified, a new election must be arranged by the Board, with the Election Proctor barred from proctoring future Inkscape votes.
The following text can be used to draft an announcement about the election, which should be sent to inkscape’s announcement and development mailing lists.
| The following Board Members have resigned from their positions and need to be filled by new members: |
| ${RETIREES} |
| The election process starts with a Candidacy Period during which any Official Member may indicate interest in running for the positions. To register, please email ${ELECTIONS_ADDRESS}, giving your |
| - Name [1] - Current professional affiliation - Statement of contribution to Inkscape or related technologies - A personal statement |
| Alternatively, any Official Member may nominate another Official Member. |
| At the end of the Candidacy Period, the applicants will be reviewed to verify eligibility. The list of candidates will then by published, and the community will have a chance to ask questions on the development mailing list. |
| Finally, the election will be held using the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) voting system[2]. This is similar in mechanism to the Instant Runoff Vote (IRV) system we’ve used in the past[3], but for multi-seat results rather than the single-winner result of IRV. From a voter’s perspective it’s the same voting procedure: Rank candidates in order of choice with #1 being first choice, and so on. |
| References: |
1: Pseudonyms are acceptable for registration purposes, but please note that your legal name will need to be provided when officially joining the board as a member, and may be needed on various legal documents which will be publically disclosed for transparency purposes.
2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote
3: Past elections: 2006 Election + http://inkscape.13.x6.nabble.com/Election-process-for-Inkscape-Board-tt2805584.html 2008 Election + http://t48889.graphics-inkscape-development.graphictalk.us/opening-inkscape-committee-nominations-t48889.html 2012 Election + http://inkscape.13.x6.nabble.com/Inkscape-Board-Election-voting-time-tt4965288.html#a4965302 + http://inkscape.13.x6.nabble.com/Inkscape-Board-Committee-Nominations-tc4965274.html
