[council] Abstentions

["Philip Sheppard" <philip.sheppard@xxxxxx>]

Please note some wise words from Steve M.sent to the OSC list.
 

  _____  

From: owner-gnso-osc@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-osc@xxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Metalitz, Steven
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 12:11 AM
To: Gomes, Chuck; gnso-osc@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [gnso-osc] FW: Further Council Ops Procedures Thoughts


I am afraid we are trying to square the circle on this abstention issue.  
 
Abstentions may occur for a lot of reasons.  But if one occurs in order to avoid
a conflict of interest problem, then we cannot treat it as a functional  "no"
vote -- which we do if we insist that the denominator in calculating a voting
threshold must always be the total number of people seated in the House or
council. 
 
Let's assume that on a motion before the council, a councillor's financial
interests will be directly benefited by defeat of the motion.  The councillor
should refrain from voting on (or even from participating in the discussion of)
the motion.  Let's assume the council consists of 10 people and that a majority
vote is needed for the motion. 
 
However, if the councillor abstains for this reason, then if 5 vote for and 4
against, the motion fails. Abstention will have achieved exactly the result that
a conflict of interest policy should avoid at all costs -- the action of the
councillor has directly benefitted his financial interest.    
 
If the councillor is able to truly abstain, so that his presence is not counted
for purposes of achieving the voting threshold, then the vote (5-4) reflects the
views of the majority of council members who were allowed (in accordance with
conflict of interest policy) to vote, and should be enough to carry the motion. 
  
The same scenario could play out almost no matter what is the voting threshold
required or the number of eligible voters.    
 
I emphasize that many abstentions will not be for conflict reasons -- quite
commonly, it will be because the constituency/stakeholder group could not reach
a position on the issue, or an issue arises suddenly and the councillor has
decided that she will not vote absent instructions from her constituency/SG.
There is less of a problem counting the abstention for purposes of a voting
threshold in this case -- though it still may not be a good idea.  But there
would need to be an exception to this general rule for situations in which an
abstention is dictated by conflict of interest rules.  
 
Steve