Colleagues,
The Interim Management Council has proposed a motion that includes a timetable for a shortly upcoming Election. See forum topic at http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,4461.0.html I repeat the motion below, for those who have not joined the forum. I urge you all to participate in the Election. _____ Motion: special election, Management Council referenda and emergency governance <http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,4461.msg46420.html#msg46420> < on: Today at 08:39:42 AM > _____ A proposal in six parts: 1. The Management Council shall hold a special election to fill vacant seats on the Management and Editorial Councils. This election shall also allow referenda. The Management Council also directs the Management and Editorial Councils to convene as a combined group in order to choose a candidate for Ombudsman. a) The election shall be to fill three Management Council seats, two for two-year terms until June 30th, 2015, and one for a one-year term until June 30th, 2014, with the successful candidate who has won fewest votes awarded the one-year term; in the event of a tie, placement is to be decided by the Management Council. b) The Managing Editor shall accept the already-offered resignation from the Editorial Council of John Stephenson on behalf of the Secretary of the Editorial Council, effective immediately following the passing of this motion. c) The election shall also be to fill two Editorial Council seats, one an Author seat until December 31st, 2013, and one an Editor seat until December 31st, 2014. d) The Combined Councils shall seek a candidate for Ombudsman with a term of office expiring December 31, 2014 (June 30th, 2014 if the Councils are merged): if a candidate is found, the Election Committee shall include that name on the ballot. e) The election shall also include Citizen-initiated referenda where each is supported by a minimum of one (1) Citizen in good standing. f) The Management Council authorises the Managing Editor to direct the Election Committee to include Council and valid Citizen-initiated Charter and non-Charter referenda on the ballot. The Managing Editor may reject a referendum proposal according to his own judgement if: - it is obviously frivolous; or - it is not in accordance with Article 37 of the current Charter; or - the Citizen who initiates the referendum is not in good standing; - there is another referendum proposal on a similar matter which is better-formed; - in the case of a non-Charter referendum, it would produce conditions likely to violate the current Charter. g) The Management Council authorises the Managing Editor to certify the results of the election on its behalf. h) In cases where a valid referendum is passed that appears, in the judgement of any Council or the Managing Editor, to contradict one or more other successful referenda on the same ballot, a Charter referendum shall prevail over a non-Charter referendum. Otherwise, the one with the most votes in favour shall prevail. In the case of a tie, a Council-initiated referendum shall prevail over a Citizen-initiated referendum. Otherwise, the relevant Council(s) or the Managing Editor shall decide which of the contradictory referenda are passed. 2. a) The Management Council appoints John Stephenson (chair) and Anthony Sebastian as the Election Committee for the special election. b) The Management Council directs the Election Committee to use multi-seat plurality voting in the special election. c) The Election Committee shall: - Begin accepting nominations and referenda at midnight UTC on July 13th, 2013; - close the period for new nominations and for candidates to accept their nominations and draft their statements at midnight UTC on July 27th, 2013; - close the period for Citizen-initiated referenda to be proposed and supported at midnight UTC on July 27th, 2013; - Have the ballot prepared by midnight UTC on July 29th, 2013; - Begin accepting ballots from eligible voters from 00:01 UTC on July 30th, 2013; - Stop accepting ballots at midnight UTC on August 5th, 2013; - Release the results by midnight UTC on August 7th, 2013. 3. The Management Council proposes a Charter referendum on merging the Management and Editorial Councils and transitional measures to that effect, the details of which shall be finalised and released onto the main wiki by the Managing Editor or John Stephenson. 4. The Management Council proposes a Charter referendum on the method of nominating and electing the Managing Editor to open the procedure to an unlimited number of candidates, the details of which shall be finalised and released onto the main wiki by the Managing Editor or John Stephenson. 5. The Management Council proposes a Charter referendum on the method of nominating and electing the Ombudsman to allow any Citizen to make nominations and to allow an unlimited number of candidates, the details of which shall be finalised and released onto the main wiki by the Managing Editor or John Stephenson. 6. In the event that the election and referenda produce neither a Management Council nor a merged 'Citizendium Council' with sufficient members to function, or at any point in the future the membership of the Management or Citizendium Council falls below a quorum and not enough seats are subsequently filled on an interim basis, the following emergency procedure shall come into effect: a) The Managing Editor shall establish a moratorium on all future elections and independent Council activity, to remain in effect until the Citizendium has acquired at least 175 active users and at least 90 days have passed. (The Citizendium considers an "active user" as a user who, in the twelve months preceding consideration of ending the moratorium, has edited the main wiki at least six days per month for at least eight of those twelve months, or a user who regularly works on behalf of Citizendium whether they edit the main wiki or not (e.g., actively participating Council members, technical staff, PR-activists.) b) During the moratorium, the Citizendium's governance shall consist of a combined Management Council and Editorial Council (or interim Citizendium Council if the referendum on merging them was successful), called "The Citizendium Governing Board", chaired by the Managing Editor and comprising five members who will serve for two years, or fewer if the moratorium on elections terminates. c) For the initial board, the Managing Editor shall call for volunteers, choosing four, requesting ratification from the Citizenry through the Citizendium-L mailing list. Any volunteer who receives more than three 'nays' will require replacement by another on the volunteer list. Nay-votes shall be submitted to a constable by email. d) The Managing Editor shall serve as Ombudsman pending Citizenry-accepted volunteer, unless the previous election has resulted in the post being filled. e) Once the moratorium ends, the Councils or Council shall be (re-)established in accordance with the Charter. Any Council members shall be invited to resume duties if still within their terms of office and the Governing Board shall be dissolved once it has organised an election to fill any vacant seats and certified the results.
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