[council] URGENT AOC RT Voting Clarifications

[William Drake <william.drake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I'm afraid there are two outstanding issues about the election process, sigh...

I.  Pool Subject to Voting

Since a) the council will be having an open meeting tomorrow in which we may 
need to explain details of the process, b) I am told that some members of other 
SGs gathered here in Nairobi have concerns about possible RT election 
scenarios, and c) Tim has raised concerns about the process winnowing the pool, 
I want to make sure everyone is on the same page on a key point regarding the 
house election for the 5th and 6th RT pool slots.  Wolf raised this with me the 
other day as well.

Based on discussions in the drafting team, some weeks ago Chuck notified SG 
chairs that they could endorse up to two candidates for the "open" (not the 
"unaffiliated") slot that is subject to election by the House  (actually I 
think the initial bracketed language he used was two "alternates").   Nobody 
ever objected so we let that stand as a limitation.   Alas, during the frenzied 
Council call when we adopted the motion minutes after finding out the revised 
dates for the process, we were focused on other issues and didn't manage to 
discuss and draw it into the process document that was the subject of the 
motion.  One could argue then that since the Council didn't formally specify 
and approve this element, we can interpret it however we want without doing any 
violence to the agreed process.

I can see two ways to interpret what we agreed:

1.  SG endorsements of up to two candidate for the open elected slot simply 
signals SG support for two out of the list of competitors.  So, for example 
(the precise number is pending agreement within the ET) it appears that there 
may be five candidates that are affiliated with the CSG.  The CSG endorses 
(i.e. says "we favor") two, which the houses may wish to take into account in 
voting, but the other three remain in the pool that will be voted on.  

2.  Instead,  SG endorsements of up to two candidate for the open elected slot 
means that they select only those two to stand for election, and the others 
fall out and are not on the ballot.  

By my personal not-ratified-by-the-ET count, the twelve candidates should be 
classified as follows:

1 person who will be held out of the pool as his first choice is to be 
considered for the Security and Stability RT
1 RgySG person
1 RgrSG person
5 CSG persons
2 NCSG persons
2 independent/unaffiliated persons

Without prejudging the decisions they will make, I would guess that the RgySG 
and RgrSG would choose the people affiliated with them for the allocated slots, 
which are not subject to the election.  NCSG has selected a person for its 
allocated slot.  This would mean then that the potential competition for the 
open elected slot is between 4 of the 5 CSG people (assuming they choose one 
for the allocated slot) and one NCSG person.  (Of course the RgySG and RgrSG 
could opt not to put the two into the allocated slots, in which case you'd have 
to add one or two to the pool being voted on).

So: for that election, would the Council like to 

1.  Have all five people competing, with CSG's endorsement of up to two meaning 
only that they prefer them, or
2.  Interpret the endorsement as meaning that only those two can stand for 
election, in which case the pool for the vote would be 2 CSG + 1 NCSG?

My preference would be that it be open, option 1.  Per Tim, this also gives 
everyone a chance at being elected.  Moreover, I would add that if we don't 
view SG endorsements of x as taking y out of the pool, there's another option, 
namely that CSG could choose not to endorse any of them, so that it doesn't 
have to make uncomfortable choices among colleagues and all get to stand.


II.  Voting Process

I raised this before with the DT and ET, didn't get a clear answer, and there 
was no further pre-travel discussion.  If on the voting call no candidates get 
majorities of both houses, we can either a) stop there and say nobody wins that 
slot; b) do a second vote, in which hopefully enough people would shift their 
positions to put someone over the top, and if the 2nd doesn't work either, just 
agree nobody wins; or c) keep doing voting rounds until someone wins.

Obviously, a) is the easiest, but b) or c) would be fairer to the candidates.  
I'd personally prefer b).

The same would presumably apply to the vote for the unaffiliated slot.


It would be really great to clarify these two items before the open meeting.  
Can we do this by consensus or do we need to have a quick motion?  Responses 
would be very much appreciated.

Sorry...i can assure you nobody is more tired of this than I.

Bill