Overview

Recent votes held by the Technical Council (TC) have raised concerns and objections about the current voting rules. The purpose of this page is to present several options, and compare them against one another. This is intended to be a tool to aid the TC in determining which rules we’d like to adopt.

Glossary

• quorum - the minimum number of TC members required to be present at a given meeting as to transact business

• simple majority - a majority of votes cast, abstentions are not counted. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority

• absolute majority - a majority of votes present, abstentions are counted with the same effect as a no vote. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority

• supermajority - a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. E.g. 2/3s, 3/4s, etc.

• abstention - declining to vote for or against a proposal or motion

Assumptions

• Only official TC member votes count

• A TC member may appoint a proxy who can vote on the member’s behalf

• …

Options

Several approaches have been discussed at recent TC meetings. This section is where each approach being considered should be described.

Option #1 - Existing rules

It’s clear the TC would like to revise the voting rules. This option is included to serve as a baseline/control, helping to illustrate how other options/approaches would result in different outcomes.

• 6 or more votes in favor are required to make a decision in favor of the motion

  • Example:  A vote is called to decide that watermelons are better than carrots.

    • 6 in favor, 5 against -> decision is made that watermelons are better than carrots. (i.e. motion carries)

    • 5 in favor, <=6 against -> decision is not made that watermelons are better than carrots. (I.e. motion does not carry)

• Decision can be made via lazy Consensus with ability to escalate to a vote

• Voting member or non-voting guests can call for a vote

• Proxy has the right to vote

• Votes will be Yes/No (+/- in zoom chat)

• TC member can abstain from voting

• TC member can delegate his/her vote

• Voting via slack is NOT allowed. 

• Voting must be done in person (via zoom)

Option #2 - Proposal 1 (Ingolf)

• 1. The Chair writes an Agenda prior to the Session and publishes it (=makes it accessible for all elected members). Thus, the Chair decides which topics will be discussed (and maybe need to be decided on) in the forthcoming session.

• 1.5 The first attempt to make a decision is to reach a lazy consensus. It means that if no one objects to the proposal, the proposal passes. FINISHED

• 1.7 If someone objects, lazy consensus has not been reached. → 1.8 or 2.

• 1.8 If no one calls for a vote (and lazy consensus has not been reached), the issue has failed. FINISHED

• 2. Any elected member (or proxy) can call for a vote at any time. This makes lazy consensus fail. If someone has called for a vote → 2.a) or 2.b).

  • 2.a) If more than 50% of elected members (or proxies, always understood) are present in Zoom session, voting will start in Zoom. → 3.)

  • or 2.b) If < 50% of elected members are present, any elected member can ask for a Slack vote.

    • 2.b)i) If no one asks, the decision is not made. In order for a decision to be made, the Chair (or Co-Chair) needs to put the issue on one of the next agendas again. → 1.

    • 2.b)ii) If someone calls for a Slack vote → 5.

• 3. Voting starts in Zoom: elected members who are present will vote “yes”, “no” or abstain. The number of abstentions are subtracted from the number of elected members who are present. The resulting figure is called the number of “voting members”.

  • 3.a) If the number of voting members is < 50% of elected members → go to 2.b)

  • 3.b) → 4.

• 4. If > 50% of elected members have cast a vote (it must be either “yes” or “no”), the simple majority decides. The decision is now binding and the vote on this issue can not be repeated. FINISHED.

• 5. A Slack vote has been called. The Chair (or Co-Chair, always understood) determines a period of time during which all elected members who are not present in the Zoom session have to cast a vote in Slack (or abstain). A thumb rule is: One week, usually the period of time until the next (regular) meeting. The period of time might be extended (for example during holiday periods). It should only be shortened if there are compelling reasons (i.e. a release deadline). Shortening should be an excpetion. The Chair announces the Slack vote in the Slack channel and prompts all members to vote in a Slack Thread. Members who have already voted during the Zoom session are prompted to revote in Slack. → 6.

• 6. If the period of time for a Slack vote has expired (usually during the next meeting), the Chair counts the number of votes which have been cast in Slack (only “yes” and “no” votes count). Members who have not voted yet but are present now are given the chance to vote now in presence.

  • 6.a) If < 50% of elected members have voted → 1.

  • 6.b) → 4.

Option #3 - Majority of Members

• A vote on a motion may be called by any member or guest

• A quorum should be present for a vote to be called (it is implicitly required if threshold is 1/2 of members or greater)

• A vote may happen in either Zoom or Slack

  • Rules TBD, could be based upon quorum, broadly same as option 2

• Votes must be yes/no

• A member may abstain from voting

• A member may delegate their vote (preferably to another member)

• Motion carries when yes votes exceed threshold

  • Default must be set, may be overridden for individual motions

  • Examples of threshold:

    • Greater than 1/2 of members

    • Greater than 2/3 of members

  • For comparison purposes, there are 11 members and 1/2 of members threshold is used

• Motion carrying (pass) is only decision that is important (fail / no decision are equivalent, and only mean the motion does not carry)

  • This could mean that a malicious actor could repeatedly ask for a vote on the same motion

Option #4 - Simple majority (Florian)

Principles:

• Decisions can only be made with a simple majority of all members.

• Members can nominate proxies at any time for any time period. They replace the member during this time period concerning these rules.

• The Chair writes an Agenda prior to the Session and publishes it (=makes it accessible for all elected members). Thus, the Chair decides which topics will be discussed (and maybe need to be decided on) in the forthcoming session.

Simple majority is when more than (number of members - abstains)/2 votes are made for either yes or no.

Options for votings:

1. Lazy consensus: During meetings in zoom, a lazy consensus can be conducted. If any present member wants a vote, lazy consensus is stopped and a vote will be called.
   During lazy consensus all members, that do not express a “no” or a “abstain”, will be counted as “yes”. The time to express this has to be long enough.
   Due to the Simple majority principle, a lazy consensus can not lead to decision if not more than 50% of the members are present.
   

2. Zoom vote: During meetings a Zoom vote can be conducted. Every member can vote for yes, no or abstain.
   A decision is made when the simple majority principle is fulfilled. So with 11 members, when 2 abstain and 5 vote for yes and the rest is still thinking about, the vote is passed.
   Same: Due to the Simple majority principle, a zoom vote can not lead to decision if not more than 50% of the members are present.
   

3. Slack vote: Slack votes can be conducted. Every member can vote for yes, no or abstain.
   Same: A decision is made when the simple majority principle is fulfilled. So the slack vote can lead to a decision within minutes or within days or weeks.
   A slack vote can have a end date. The end date should give all members the possibility to vote. If the end date is passed, all remaining votes are counted as abstains.

Comparison

Considerations

Things we should be mindful of when weighing the options.

• Voting forum/mechanism - Zoom, Slack, etc.

• Vote timeliness / Duration - do the voting rules potentially delay a decision? E.g. if adopting slack voting, how long is the voting window? Can we really afford to delay a decision by days or weeks?

• …