[bestbits] Notice seeking candidates for Best Bits steering committee election

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Dear all,

As there was general support for the proposed election process that was proposed on 10 April, subject to one suggested change (which has been made), below is the process that is proposed for the election of the next Best Bits steering committee.
Election will be called for 1 June 2014, running for 14 days
Anyone can claim voting rights if they:
have been subscribed to the list for 2 months prior to the election being called; and
agree to the existing statement of objectives (see http://bestbits.net/organizer/best-bits/).
Voting is for each of 5 regional positions (voting for each separately) and 3 non-geographical positions (voting together):
Regions are Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, Europe, North America/Other
Total 8 positions, but "no candidate" is also an option which may result in fewer positions filled
Candidates can run for a regional position or for a non-geographical position simultaneously, ie. they need not elect for one position or the other.
Votes are counted using a "first past the post" system
It is aimed to achieve a panel of candidates with at least 40% of each gender - if not, the election will be postponed, unless there is a broad consensus amongst all eligible voters to run the election notwithstanding the failure to reach this standard.
Candidates can serve a minimum term of 1 year, maximum of 3 years, with a 1 year gap before reappointment.
Candidacy is open to civil society participants only.
Nominations of candidates for election are open from now until 31 May.  This can be done by sending an email to the list and/or to the returning officer.  Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com> has volunteered to act as the returning officer for the election.  If there are any objections to Ian taking this role, or if anyone else would like to assist Ian, please let us know.

There is no required format for the candidates' statement, however as a suggestion, it may be useful to indicate:

Your vision for Best Bits.  What do you think you can contribute on the steering committee?
That you can commit time of up to several hours per week to devote to Best Bits.  This may include facilitating the broader community of participants to organise meetings, draft joint statements or interventions, improve website resources, mediate disputes, etc.  Where do you think your strengths lie?
Familiarity with the existing statement of objectives at http://bestbits.net/organizer/best-bits/ and the draft procedures at http://bestbits.net/wiki/main/procedures/.  (These are not written in stone, but they are a useful guideline to our current practices.)
Anything else that you wish to communicate.

Thanks for your support as we look forward to receiving a diverse group of candidates for our first election.  If you have any questions, please let us know.

-- 
Jeremy Malcolm PhD LLB (Hons) B Com
Internet lawyer, ICT policy advocate, geek
host -t NAPTR 5.9.8.5.2.8.2.2.1.0.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'

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