Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Benjamin Berg]

On Thu, 2017-06-01 at 09:10 -0500, Michael Catanzaro wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 4:08 AM, Allan Day 
> wrote:
> > My immediate thought is that it could put some people off running,
> > since it's a greater commitment. However, I'd be interested to hear
> > what you think about it.
> > 
> > Allan
> 
> Yes, that's the main risk.
> 
> The benefit is we would only be electing three or four candidates per 
> year, so the elections would be more competitive.

I don't see how it would be any more competitive as everyone who stays
on the board will not be running in that period. For it to become more
competitive you would need to argue how the move makes it more
attractive to hand in a candidacy. And so far I have only seen
arguments that it makes it less attractive.

Please also keep in mind that currently most people who re-run after
being on the board are also re-elected.

Benjamin
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Michael Catanzaro]

On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 4:08 AM, Allan Day  wrote:

My immediate thought is that it could put some people off running,
since it's a greater commitment. However, I'd be interested to hear
what you think about it.

Allan


Yes, that's the main risk.

The benefit is we would only be electing three or four candidates per 
year, so the elections would be more competitive.


Michael

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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Allan Day]

Michael Catanzaro  wrote:
...
>> My immediate thought is that it could put some people off running,
>> since it's a greater commitment. However, I'd be interested to hear
>> what you think about it.
...
> Yes, that's the main risk.
>
> The benefit is we would only be electing three or four candidates per year,
> so the elections would be more competitive.

It's obviously too late for this election, but it seems worth
considering this for the future. I think it would be a good idea for
the new board to discuss this, along with any other proposals people
might have for improving the elections process.

Allan
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Allan Day]

Michael Catanzaro  wrote:
...
> Here's another question: what do the candidates think about switching to
> using two-year terms?

My immediate thought is that it could put some people off running,
since it's a greater commitment. However, I'd be interested to hear
what you think about it.

Allan
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Tobias Mueller]

Hi.

On So, 2017-05-28 at 16:58 +, Florian Müllner wrote:
> a candidate can still miss the required vote threshold
FWIW: that threshold is 1.

If a candidate receives one direct vote, they should be elected.
I would go as far and argue that if a candidate receives one indirect
vote, they should be elected.

The OpenSTV GUI doesn't even allow an election with the number of
candidate equalling the number of available seats.  We will probably
add a dummy candidate to make it work the way we know it.

Cheers,
  Tobi
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Florian Müllner]

On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 3:52 PM Michael Catanzaro 
wrote:

> On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 4:23 AM, Andrea Veri  wrote:
> > Foundation Members are welcome to ask questions to the candidates on
> > foundation-list. Please try to avoid duplicates, and bear in mind
> > candidates invest a lot of time in answering questions.
>
> Here's a question... if we have seven candidates for seven positions,
> are we really going to run an election just to rank them? There doesn't
> seem to be much point in doing this.
>

As Kat pointed out, a candidate can still miss the required vote threshold,
in which case the board would end up with less than seven directors.

Cheers,
Florian
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Michael Catanzaro]

On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 4:23 AM, Andrea Veri  wrote:

Foundation Members are welcome to ask questions to the candidates on
foundation-list. Please try to avoid duplicates, and bear in mind
candidates invest a lot of time in answering questions.


Here's a question... if we have seven candidates for seven positions, 
are we really going to run an election just to rank them? There doesn't 
seem to be much point in doing this.


Here's another question: what do the candidates think about switching 
to using two-year terms?


Michael

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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Sébastien Wilmet]

On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 02:36:03PM +0200, Ekaterina Gerasimova wrote:
> >  Is it really useful to go through with the election process when the
> > outcome is already known beforehand?
> 
> The outcome is not known yet: it is possible for there to be anywhere
> up to 7 candidates who get in because we use the single transferable
> vote system.
> 
> For the system to work correctly, it relies on people voting only for
> the candidates that they want on the board (which is not necessarily
> all 7 candidates) in their order of preference. This means that if one
> only wants 5/7 candidates to be on the board, then one should only
> vote for 5 people, not for 7 people. As there is a minimum number of
> votes that each candidate has to get before they make it onto the
> board, this could mean that some candidates do not reach than
> threshold.
> 
> Here is an example of how the vote counting works:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote#Example

And what would happen if less than 7 candidates are elected? Would the
board be composed of only 6 or 5 people for the year to come? Or would
there be a new election period where more candidates can apply, with a
second vote?

Voting this year is a bit bureaucratic… Maybe a lot of people will not
take the time to vote. Is there a minimum percentage of vote
participation required? If yes, it would be good to remind the
Foundation members about that.

--
Sébastien
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Ekaterina Gerasimova]

On 26 May 2017 at 14:17, Florian Müllner  wrote:
> On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 11:24 AM Andrea Veri  wrote:
>>
>> It's that time of the year again! I'm happy to announce the following
>> candidates for this year's Board of Directors elections:
>>
>> [list of 7 candidates for 7 board positions]
>>
>
>  Is it really useful to go through with the election process when the
> outcome is already known beforehand?

The outcome is not known yet: it is possible for there to be anywhere
up to 7 candidates who get in because we use the single transferable
vote system.

For the system to work correctly, it relies on people voting only for
the candidates that they want on the board (which is not necessarily
all 7 candidates) in their order of preference. This means that if one
only wants 5/7 candidates to be on the board, then one should only
vote for 5 people, not for 7 people. As there is a minimum number of
votes that each candidate has to get before they make it onto the
board, this could mean that some candidates do not reach than
threshold.

Here is an example of how the vote counting works:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote#Example

> Cheers,
> Florian
>
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Re: GNOME Board of Directors Foundation Elections 2017 - Candidates

[Florian Müllner]

On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 11:24 AM Andrea Veri  wrote:

> It's that time of the year again! I'm happy to announce the following
> candidates for this year's Board of Directors elections:
>
> [list of 7 candidates for 7 board positions]
>
>
 Is it really useful to go through with the election process when the
outcome is already known beforehand?

Cheers,
Florian
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