[seedig] Voting closes tomorrow_Proposal to amend Executive Committee's ToR

[Olga Kyryliuk]

Dear Community Members,

This is a kind reminder to cast your vote for the suggested amendments to the Executive Committee's ToR. Tomorrow end of the day we will close the poll. Make sure your voice is in. All details can be found below in my previous email.

Best,
Olga
(on behalf of Executive Committee)


Dear SEEDIG Community,

As you might be aware the terms of office of two SEEDIG Executive Committee members – Sorina Teleanu and Lianna Galstyan – are due to expire. Therefore, we will be launching the election cycle shortly.

Meanwhile, we want to make sure that all preconditions for smooth and fair elections are created. The experience of the 2019 elections revealed some flaws in the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the SEEDIG Executive Committee, which significantly delayed the election cycle and led to the restart of the whole electoral process as a result of an individual complaint. To avoid any similar situation in the future and to bring the ToR in compliance with the democratic and legally viable electoral procedures, the Executive Committee takes this opportunity to suggest the following amendments to the ToR.

To review the wording of paragraph “b” of Article 6.32 and to formulate it as follows (where strikethrough marks words to be deleted and words in bold are newly added):

b. If an objection is raised, the election committee shall review it and provide a response the provided rationale and respond within three (3) days. The election committee may: (1) accept the objection and revise the election results and proposed composition of the executive committee accordingly, or (2) reject the objection and provide a rationale for keeping the initially proposed composition of the executive committee. In any case, the decision taken by the election committee in response to the objection shall be considered as final and not subject to appeal.

To remove from the ToR paragraphs “c” and “d” of Article 6.32 reading as follows:

“c. If no further objection is raised, the election committee shall announce the final election results and the composition of the executive committee.

d. If any additional objection is raised, the entire election process is re-initiated.”

Thus, the revised Article 6.32 will be laid down in the following way:

“6.32. A proposal made in line with Art. 6.31 shall be subject to review and approval by the SEEDIG community through the following mechanism:

a. Voting members of the SEEDIG community may file written motivated objections to the proposal within seven (7) days from the date when the proposal is announced. Objections may only be raised on procedural grounds and concern the fulfillment of the conditions provided in Art. 6.31. If no objection is filed within this timeline, the election committee shall announce the final election results.

b. If an objection is raised, the election committee shall review the provided rationale and respond within three (3) days. The election committee may: (1) accept the objection and revise the election results and proposed composition of the executive committee accordingly, or (2) reject the objection and provide a rationale for keeping the initially proposed composition of the executive committee. In any case, the decision taken by the election committee in response to the objection shall be considered as final and not subject to appeal.”

We kindly ask you to vote on the proposed amendments by expressing your support with “yes” and disagreement with “no”. You can also choose an “abstain” option but that is not very helpful for the overall result. To vote please respond to this Doodle poll and make your choice by the end of the day on Wednesday, 11 November 2020. It is important to indicate your real name, as only community members included in the SEEDIG mailing list are allowed to participate in the voting (Article 6.23 of the ToR applies mutatis mutandis). If you don’t indicate your real name, your vote won’t be considered.

The proposed amendments to the ToR will be considered as passed if supported by a simple majority of those voting.

We look forward to your understanding and cooperation on this matter!

Best,
Olga
(on behalf of Executive Committee)
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