In the ASF the chair carries no additional authority within the community. Legally they are a VP but that's a legal requirement not a social convention. There are no votes, as far as I am aware, in ASF projects, that would be influenced by law - votes about money, contractors etc. all occur elsewhere.
In other words a PMC chair is expected to vote in the same way as anyone else in the community. Sent from my mobile device, please forgive errors and brevity. On Jun 4, 2012 4:50 AM, "Dennis E. Hamilton" <dennis.hamil...@acm.org> wrote: > @Herbert > > In general, anyone should recuse themselves from voting or simply not vote > if there is concern for (perception of) conflict of interest of any sort. > > There is no reason for someone calling a vote not to vote. It happens in > governments and it happens in standard structures for operating committees > of various kinds. Calling the vote is not casting a vote in those contexts > either. Calling for a vote (or initiating a [VOTE] thread) is for making > progress to a definite outcome and is technically not the same as voting on > the motion. > > The only odd case about votes is typically when someone is sitting as a > chairperson. In general, chairpersons (having not recused themselves) MAY > vote when the vote cast makes a difference in the outcome, but SHALL NOT > vote at any other time. The chairperson is expected to remain neutral and > only in the particular close case the chairperson may (but need not) cast a > decisive vote. I believe that is the rule that governs the conduct of the > Vice President of the United States when sitting as the chairperson of the > US Senate. > > Of course, the procedures and bylaws of a specific organization will > determine how the specific combinations of cases are handled. > > - Dennis > > -----Original Message----- > From: Herbert Duerr [mailto:h...@apache.org] > Sent: Friday, June 01, 2012 04:50 > To: dev@community.apache.org > Cc: Ross Gardler > Subject: Re: Can the one proposing a vote cast his vote? > > Hi, > > I was wondering how other projects under the ASF umbrella handle the > question, whether the one calling a vote should always stay neutral or > whether he should be allowed to cast his vote. > > Or is it assumed that the one proposing a vote automatically approves > his proposal with a +1? > > I had found http://s.apache.org/IqE from the Avalon project that > summarizes the voting process very well. My particular question wasn't > answered in it though, so I discussed that topic with Ross Gardler, > where he gave some good advise and allowed me to share it: > > You should vote. Unless you formally record your vote it will not be > > counted. > > > > In some cases other factors might make your impartiality questionable, > > e.g. you may be nominating a new committee who is a work colleague. In > > such circumstances you may choose to declare your relationship when you > > make the nomination or when you vote. However, since everyone is an > > individual in the ASF this is not required. > > > > If there is a genuine conflict of interest you need to recuse yourself > > from the vote. This might happen in circumstances such as requesting PMC > > approval of the projects trademarks for an event sponsored by your > employer. > > Are there additional criteria one should consider or are there any other > opinions on this topic? > > Herbert > >
