Bylaws Revision: VOTING[3]

[ some cleanup... if the general principles are OK, I'll go forward and
write something up soon.
- clarified 'one member one vote'
- clarified that a quorum is needed... still need to determine what
constitutes a quorum. Debian uses square roots... shall we go for logs? :)
--Nils]

VOTING
------

- The voting procedures should be similar to a company and its stockholders
or to a cooperative and its members
- each member shall have exactly one vote
- the system needs to relatively be fast and reactive, but needs checks and
balances to ensure the wishes of the membership are carried out by the board
- non contributing members should not be able to vote
- all votes (unless otherwise stated) are approved by a majority (>50%)
- the quorum shall be set by <something> (look at debian constitution for
this? Suggestions? It should not be too small, but also not be too
large...)

General
-------
- There are too many members to ask them to vote every time an issue is
raised, therefore the board acts on behalf of its members
- The board of directors together with the committees run the organization.
- the board of directors (and its committees) represent the membership and
acts in accordance with its wishes.
- from time to time the board of directors will pose questions to the
members when it is not clear how the membership feels about an issue

Board appointments
------------------
[this may go into the 'board' section of the bylaws, but its important to
keep an eye on in the voting section]
- the members will approve the appointments on the board of directors
- the members ultimately control the actions of the organization
- removal of board members
.. this should be relatively difficult... 2/3 majority vote of the board or
of the membership maybe?

Resolutions
-----------
- resolutions are voted on by the board of directors
- Members and committes may put resolutions before the board of directors
for voting
- Members have the power to override the board of directors by a majority
vote

--
Nils Lohner Software in the Public Interest, Inc.
E-Mail: lohner(at)spi-inc(dot)org PO Box 1326
Board Of Directors <board(at)spi-inc(dot)org> Boston, Ma. 02117 USA

On Tue, May 18, 1999 at 12:22:52PM -0400, Nils Lohner wrote:
> VOTING
> ------
>
> - all votes (unless otherwise stated) are approved by a majority (>50%)
> - the quorum shall be set by <something> (look at debian constitution for
> this? Suggestions? It should not be too small, but also not be too
> large...)
To combine these... I'd suggest something like this:

For Yes/No/Abstain type votes:
50% of the "registered voters" or >=80% of the actual votes which ever is
smaller.

For Choice type votes: use the STV method (not what Debian uses by
default).

Why the 80% rule? I can see a time when SPI is large enough that not
everybody votes. Debian already sees < 50% voter turn out on some issues
but (so far) everything has been pretty decisive. Every issue would have
been decided under these rules and if it's a situation where 80% of the 20%
that vote can't agree, then more should be done to get a larger body of
voters in volved to decide the issue.

> - removal of board members
> .. this should be relatively difficult... 2/3 majority vote of the board or
> of the membership maybe?
I would say 3/4 the board (ie. every member of the board) and stick with
2/3 for the body.

> - Members and committes may put resolutions before the board of directors
> for voting
I think I like this.. Members as individuals or members as a body (ie. with
voting?)

--
Please cc all mailing list replies to me, also.
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