On 16. May 2020, at 11:46, Gerald Pfeifer <gp@suse.com> wrote:
On Fri 2020-05-15, Fraser_Bell wrote:
This is NOT a VOTE.
This is a PETITION, called for by openSUSE member Pierre Böckmann
Agreed.
The ONLY reason it is using the voting system is because we have no other validating method to properly field a PETITION.
Our election rules state
"If 20 per cent or more of the openSUSE members require a new board, an election will be held for the complete elected Board seats."
without going into details how "require a new board" is practically supposed to work.
It makes sense to use the existing voting infrastructure etc., and I support that.
But, this IS a PETITION. It is up to Mr. Böckmann and his supporters to find enough Qualified openSUSE Members in Good Standing to sign this petition. They would do so by using the voting system to "SIGN" the petition.
Still agreed so far.
If a minimum 20% of the Community DOES NOT SIGN the petition by the deadline, then this whole matter comes to an end.
This is confusing use of the English language at best, incorrect at worst.
It should better read "Unless a minimum of 20% of the community SIGNS the petition...". (Let's avoid the phrases like "does not sign".)
If a minimum 20% of the Community DO sign the PETITION, then a NON-CONFIDENCE/FORCED RE-ELECTION VOTE will be promptly held. It will require that at least 20% of the Community must take part in the VOTE.
I do not find any foundation for this step in the openSUSE Election Rules at https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Board_election_rules .
To be clear, and I am writing the following as a member, as chair of the board, and one of the handful people by now probably more familiar with our election rules than anybody else:
I firmly believe the following interpretation of our election rules is incorrect, and conversations I've had with Richard Brown (my predecessor on the board for many years and someone who helped refine those rules) and Pierre Böckmann (who initiated the motion) are consistent with my understanding.
There are Three Steps:
1) Petition, requires 20% signing by Members.
2) If Petition is successful, NON-CONFIDENCE/FORCED RE-ELECTION VOTE that requires participation of at least 20% or more of the Members.
3) If the Majority Vote in "2" is in favour of the RE-ELECTION, the Board must step down and a FULL BOARD ELECTION must then be held.
Here are the two steps that I believe are the actual process:
1) Petition, requires 20% signing by members.
2) If the petition passes, a reelection is going to take place for the five elected board seats.
(In particular there is not a step in between these two, the board does not step down, and only the elected seats are up for, well, election.)
I very much hope this is a misunderstanding or unclear wording on your end, not an official statement by the election officials.
In my role as chair will reach out to that group of four election officials (Ish, Edwin, Ariez, and yourself) to seek a unified statement.
All others I'd like to ask to give this a few days and await an official update from the election officials (and/or myself).
I agree that Gerald’s interpretation of the rules is more consistent with my expectations as someone who had a hand in those rules over the years.
Thank you, Gerald -- Dr. Gerald Pfeifer <gp@suse.com>, CTO @SUSE + chair @openSUSE
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