Region 13 Election Policy Revision 1.20 April 27, 2009 Written and compiled by previous members of R13 & current standing members. Changes suggested by various members of the region and incorporated. This is presented to the membership of Region 13 for standing and modification as is deemed appropriate. As adopted, it has become part of a region-wide operations policy. --Michael Luko, R13C ======================================================================= I. The Election Moderator A. The moderator is appointed by the RC at the his or her descretion, and must be confirmed by a vote of the NCs of the region. Discussion on the appointment will take place for one week in the R13_ELECTION echo, after which a netmail ballot to confirm or reject the appointee is held, using the procedure outlined later in this document. The RC will count the votes and post the results in the R13_ELECTION echo, and if 50%+1 vote in favor of the appointee, this person is confirmed. NCs are expected to solicit the opinions of the members of their respective networks when casting their ballot, casting their ballot in accordance with the majority view in their respective networks. B. The election moderator has complete control over the electoral process and validates all candidates' nominations, counts all votes and announces the results. The election moderator may appoint an assistant with the approval of all nominated candidates at the end of the nomination process, whose job will be to assist in counting votes. C. In order to easily identify the election moderator to members of the region, s/he will receive the nodelist designation of 1:13/2, and will be added to the segment upon confirmation. D. The election moderator serves in the appointed position for the entire term of the sitting RC after he or she has been appointed, and may be replaced by the RC if needs be by this same process. II. Election Details A. Schedule: all schedules start at 00:01 hours and end at 24:00 hours 1. Announcement of the election: April 22nd through April 28th a. Made in the R13SYSOP and R13_ELECTION echos by the election moderator so that everyone in the region can participate, and in netmail to each of the NCs in the region with instructions to repost the announcement in their local administrative echomail areas, or to forward it in netmail to any nodes not receiving them. The election moderator may choose to send a netmail to each node in the entire region if he or she so chooses to do so. An announcement is also made in FidoNews by the election moderator. b. Describes what position will be elected, whether RC or REC. c. Is done three times in a one-week period in R13_ELECTION; the netmail notification is done once, as is the FidoNews announcement. 2. Declarations of Candidacy: April 29th through May 12th a. Any member of the region may declare candidacy b. Two weeks are allowed for such declarations c. All declarations must be done in the R13_ELECTION echo, which will be used for all election-related business d. The message header/timestamp will be used to determine whether a declaration was received on time, but no more than two days after the end of the declaration period. 3. Questions to the Candidates: May 13th through June 2nd a. The candidates will state, briefly, their platforms in the R13_ELECTION echomail area b. Members of the region may question the candidates on any issues that they may feel are important to them or the region c. Debate between candidates should be limited; it is the membership that must be answered, and the election moderator may halt debate at any time if it is clear that the membership is not benefiting from the debate. This does not apply to clarification of position; i.e., if a candidate states a position and it isn't clear, any other candidate may request clarification and present their position. This is not intended to prevent opposing points of view from being discussed, but rather is intended to prevent the candidates from focusing on each other and ignoring the members of the region. d. Three weeks are allowed for questions and answers 4. Vote: June 3rd through June 9th One week is allowed for all members of the region to vote 5. Announcement of the results: within three days of the end of the vote, or by June 12th 6. Elections are held once every two years for each of the RC and REC positions. The elections are staggered, such that in one calendar year an RC election will be held, and the next calendar year an REC election will be held. The purpose of this is to maintain continuity in the operation of the region. B. Recall Elections 1. Recalls are started by a referendum, in which 20% of the NCs of the region request the recall election; this request for a recall must be filed with the election moderator. In order to allow for each member of the region to have a voice in the recall process, any NC who receives requests from 10% of their network to recall a *C shall make such a request for a recall election. 2. The recall election is held as a regular election would be, with the sitting *C running as a candidate while still in office. 3. A recall election does not upset the regular schedule of elections; if a recall election is held, and results in the replacement of a *C, that replacement will only serve until the next regularly scheduled election at which time s/he may run as a candidate. III. Voting Procedure A. Each nodelisted operator is entitled to one vote; if more than one person shares responsibility for a system, and also share a nodelist entry, then only one vote is allowed between them. B. Votes are counted only when sent by netmail, and when sent by the nodelisted operator to the election moderator. Voice votes or proxy votes are NOT COUNTED. Votes must be addressed to 1:13/2. C. Votes should be sent DIRECT to avoid the possibility of tampering, but in recognition of the fact that not all members of the region are able/willing to make a long-distance call to deliver their vote, it may be routed. Votes which are routed are not guaranteed to be delivered, and as such, no responsibility can be placed on the person(s) who may route such mail. D. Each vote must contain: 1. The name and node address of the operator casting the vote, 2. The vote itself, 3. A password to be used in announcing and validating the vote. E. The election moderator will tally and summarize the votes, listing each vote by password in the announcement, i.e. if John Doe and Jane Doe are candidates, the announcement of the results would look like this: John Doe Jane Doe -------------------- -------------------- Beeswax Whatchamacallit Zaphod Zoos Viper Kitchen Wrangler Hunter -------------------- -------------------- 3 votes (37.5%) 5 votes (62.5%) A second announcement will follow this, listing in numerical order, all node addresses from which a vote was received and counted. These two messages will serve as the record of vote, and by the nature of their content, will allow all members of the region to see that their votes were counted and counted correctly while maintaining the confidentiality of the votes. Under no circumstances will the Election Moderator (or assistant) release any information concerning the nature of specific votes -- absolute confidentiality of the votes must and will be maintained. F. A candidate must receive 50%+1 of the votes in order to be elected. If four candidates are running, and the vote is: A: 91 votes B: 37 votes C: 69 votes D: 12 votes Candidates "A" and "C" will face each other in a runoff to determine the winner of the election. A runoff election is held between the two candidates receiving the most votes, and is handled as described above except: 1. One week for further questions to the remaining candidates, not three, and 2. All results from the general election are discarded and a new ballot is taken, with the results of the new ballot alone being counted. G. If the election results in a tie, the ZC will choose the RC from the candidates. H. The elected person will take office one week following the announcement of the results, and in the case of the RC election, with the approval of the ZC (in recognition of FidoNet Policy.) The outgoing coordinator will make available all materials necessary to ensure a smooth transition, and will support the coordinator-elect for as long as is possible or needed. IV. Dispute Resolution A. Any dispute must be filed, in netmail, to the election moderator within the one week time frame before the electee takes office. This dispute should be carbon-copied to at least two other members of the region to ensure fairness and action on the part of the election moderator. B. The election moderator will announce the dispute, and request a Judge of Elections be named. The Judge of Elections will be the ZC, or if s/he is unavailable, another region's RC or a member of the region acceptable to all of the candidates. C. The Judge of Elections will receive from the election moderator all votes cast, without the summaries. D. The Judge of Elections will recount the votes and create a new summary which will be forwarded to the election moderator and posted accordingly. This will be the final count in cases of dispute. V. Amendments to Election Policy A. Any member of the region may propose an amendment to this election policy, but no amendment may be proposed during an election. B. Such a proposal must be sent to the RC and the election moderator. The RC will cause it to be distributed to all NCs in the region, and direct that the NCs distribute it to all members of the region. C. Debate on any amendment will be held in the R13_ELECTION echo. D. The process for voting on the amendment will be as follows: 1. The proposal will require 50%+1 of the votes to be adopted 2. The votes will be counted as in a regular election, with the results posted similarly 3. The time frame for debate is open, but voting will still take place in one week's time 4. The election moderator will schedule the vote at least one week in advance to allow all members of the region to have time to consider their vote 5. The vote can be forced to occur by referrendum of the NCs; if 20% of the NCs request the vote be scheduled, the election moderator must schedule the vote VI. Continutity and Successive Administrations It is recommended to the members of the region that any candidates who may run for the RC position be clearly asked to abide the terms and conditions of approved regional policy, such that no future RC may throw out policy to suit his/her whim. If a candidate does not clearly state that they will abide the terms and conditions of approved regional policy, you are advised that you should cast your vote in favor of a candidate who will abide it so that it can be maintained in perpetuity for the benefit of the members of the region.