[governance] Criterion for charter voting

Wed Sep 29 07:24:57 EDT 2010

The problem with the interpretation to "avoid capture" of only
allowing charter votes from those who voted in the last election is
that it greatly facilitates a different kind of capture:  One may
monitor those who voted in the last election and, when that mix is
favorable, ram through the charter amendment based on this subset of
the total electorate.  And then another amendment could be passed,
based on the same consideration of not having voted in the last
election.  Perhaps this could be called "super-capture."

I've written before that a proper interpretation, at least in my view,
of the Charter would result in a fair and democratic voting method,
but it hasn't been interpreted consistently that way in the past.

The odd thing is that I am valuable enough to at least be asked about
the Charter, and yet after missing one election I have never been
qualified or registered to vote at any time in the year or two I've
been on the list.  Perhaps I am now, but it's hard for me to know
because some of the procedures are, to me, democratically
counter-intuitive.

Paul Lehto, J.D.
On 9/29/10, parminder <parminder at itforchange.net> wrote:
> Dear All
>
> This is to draw you attention to an important matter.
>
> The voting eligibility for charter amendment and for any other voting,
> including for electing a coordinator is very different. While for the
> latter, anyone who has been on the list for two months and affirms
> membership through declaring commitment to the charter can vote, for a
> charter amendment only those who have voted for the last election/
> voting can vote. This special condition has been put for voting on any
> charter amendment to avoid capture, since charter amendment is quite a
> serious matter, since through any such amendment the very nature of and
> procedures adopted by the caucus can be changed.
>
> When I read that voting for charter amendment and for electing a new
> coordinator will take place at the same time, I brought the above issue
> to the attention of the co-coordinator in-charge of the voting/election,
> Jeremy, and requested that since there are different voting eligibility
> conditions for the two proposed voting, holding them together will cause
> confusion and should therefore be avoided. I preferred that charter
> amendment be held separately before the coordinator election, with the
> voter list consisting of all those who had voted for the last election,
> as is expressly required by the charter.
>
> Jeremy replied that he is going to overcome this problem simply by
> having a single process whereby the coordinator voting immediately
> precedes the charter amendment vote, and it will 'technically' be
> ensured that only those who vote for coordinator election will be able
> to vote for the charter amendment, which in his view would meet the
> special voting eligibility requirement for a charter amendment vote.
>
> I responded that though technically it may meet the requirement, which
> too I doubt, it does not observe the intent of the charter in spirit,
> since the special condition of more strict eligibility conditions for
> voting for charter amendment has been put there with a clear purpose of
> avoiding capture. It is for this reason that the charter seeks to put
> some clear time and space between the participation of anyone in a vote
> for charter amendment and her/ his affirmation of IGC membership through
> participation in an earlier election, when, presumably, he/ she would
> have no idea of a possible participation in a charter amendment vote.
>
>   The present process, whereby any voting can be held immediately
> preceding, but as a part of the same process of,  a charter amendment
> vote almost looks like writing a plan on how to subvert the charter
> requirement of more stringent voting criteria for charter amendment.
> Even though the present exercise may be well-intentioned, the fact that
> it opens up a dangerous future possibility bother me a lot.
>
> I therefore consider the present voting process as not proper, and
> propose a discussion on this issue.
>
> Parminder
>
>
>
> On Wednesday 29 September 2010 10:02 AM, Jeremy Malcolm wrote:
>> You should just have received a personal email inviting you to cast
>> your vote for the next co-coordinator of the IGC.  After you confirm
>> your eligibility and cast your vote, you will also become eligible to
>> vote on the recently-discussed charter amendment.
>>
>> If you did not receive your personal invitation email, please first
>> check your junk email folder, and if you still do not have it, let me
>> know.
>>
>> The draft form of the coordinator ballot and charter poll has been
>> approved by Ginger also, but I will take primary responsibility for
>> any disputes that people may wish to raise about the process adopted.
>>
>> The 2009 appeals team (Jeanette Hofmann, Adam Peake, Carlos
>> Alfonso, Ken Lohento and Fouad Bajwa), who have not yet been replaced
>> for 2010, are (I hope) also available to hear any disagreements.
>>
>> Following the informal procedure adopted in previous years (the
>> charter is, surprisingly, silent), the election ballot and charter
>> poll will be open for 10 days from now, which ends on 9 September
>> 2010, "rounded up" until midnight that night.
>>
>> The last subscriber who is eligible to affirm IGC membership is Alan
>> Greenberg, who subscribed on 23 July 2010.  The first subscriber who
>> missed out on that opportunity is Giorgio Simeoli who subscribed on 10
>> August.  One subscriber, emisa+ig at gmail.com
>> <mailto:emisa+ig at gmail.com> has an email address that is not
>> technically capable of receiving a personalised invitation
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Jeremy Malcolm
>> Project Coordinator*
>> Consumers International
>> Kuala Lumpur Office for Asia Pacific and the Middle East
>> Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala Lumpur,
>> Malaysia
>> Tel: +60 3 7726 1599
>>
>> *CI is 50*
>> Consumers International marks 50 years of the global consumer movement
>> in 2010.
>> Celebrate with us as we continue to support, promote and protect
>> consumer rights around the world.
>> _http://www.consumersinternational.org/50_
>>
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>

-- 
Paul R Lehto, J.D.
P.O. Box 1
Ishpeming, MI  49849
lehto.paul at gmail.com
906-204-2334
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