2019-05-20 Election Activities

We expect all members of our community to adhere to the highest standards of behavior during Technical Steering Committee and Program Leader elections. Everyone should respect the election process, as set out in the Community Code of Conduct.

We trust the instincts, good faith, maturity, and sound judgement of our community members. Talking about governance issues in person at official StarlingX events or privately with co-workers or friends is expected. However, we are a diverse, world-wide community, and we encourage everyone to discuss community issues publicly using inclusive forums where we can all learn from and contribute to the conversation. Using the discuss mailing list for those discussions ensures that everyone has an opportunity to participate, unlike exclusionary forums such as private mailings and in-person events that overlook community members who cannot travel to the event, even if no invitation is required to gain entrance.

Administering Elections

Prior to each election, the TSC names community members to administer the election. As described in the Technical Steering Committee Charter, these election officials identify the appropriate electorate, verify all candidates’ qualifications, configure the voting software, and ensure that votes are collected and counted properly.

Although we hope that everyone will follow our community ideals, we recognize that, whether through mistakes or bad intent, that will not always be the case. In addition to the logistical operation of the election, the election officials are also responsible for receiving reports of potential abuse.

During the election, the officials report to the active members of the TSC (defined as those members whose terms have not expired and have not stepped down for other reasons). Of course, any active TSC member involved in the election (such as for a PL/TL position) would not be involved in resolving any issues. This ensures that TSC members running in the election do not have undue influence over its outcome, while also maintaining oversight by the elected representatives still serving on the TSC.

Reporting Problems

If you observe a problem with the election or campaigning activities, you should bring the details to the election officials privately for an impartial review.

The officials will report privately to the active TSC members, who will work with the election officials to talk to all of the parties affected and determine how to resolve the situation. The resolution may include private apologies and reprimands, or, in extreme cases, voiding and re-running the election.

After the matter is resolved, the active TSC members and election officials will prepare and publish an official summary of the incident. In most cases, the names of people and companies involved will be redacted because the goal of the incident report is to emphasize our community culture and values through education, rather than to publicly punish the parties involved.

In an especially extreme case, the active TSC members may decide to refer the issue to the Open Infrastructure Foundation Executive Director and Secretary for further action related to the Code of Conduct or other Foundation rules. Community members always retain the right to report issues to the Foundation staff directly, following the processes described in the Code of Conduct.