[Community-Discuss] [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections

Sat May 19 11:38:44 UTC 2018

Dear Legal Counsel,

Thanks for your input.  Much appreciated.

Your statements reinforce the interpretation of section 9.2 of the
guidelines with the origin of the "none of the above" option in the
election process and how votes for this option are considered in the case
of one candidate running for election for a seat. [Last bullet point]

Case in which the election becomes a "yes" or "no"  vote for the only
candidate.   This point is clear and accepted and the objection is not for
the results for seat 5 and 6.

What has not been clarified is how the same principle came to be applied
for the elections for seat 2 which had two candidates running for the seat,
one of whom got higher votes than the other, with the total number of
members casting votes in excess of those opting out.

You also referred to art 10.2 of the constitution but did not elaborate on
the precedence that occurred that has become an integral part of
our guidelines.  As precedence automatically becomes part of the election
guidelines, it is important that we address issues which come up around the
election with care and unambiguously.

Can you be so kind to clarify?

Best wishes
Omo

PS:  Grateful to listers to please keep this thread confined to the subject.

On 17 May 2018 at 17:17, Ashok <ashok at afrinic.net> wrote:

> Dear Members and Community,
> Mt views have been sought on the matter under reference.
> Please find same hereunder.
>
> On 17/05/2018 14:04, B
>
> *The Election Process and last AGMM.*
>
> The appointment of Directors is carried out during an AGMM of the Company
> –Art 13.1 of the constitution.
>
> The election of the Directors is carried out in terms of Art 13.2 of the
> constitution which refers expressly to the election process approved by the
> Board.
>
> Moreover  Art 10.2 of the Constitution refers to precedent applied during
> an AFRINIC election and which de facto become part of the election
> guidelines.
>
> The election process  as it stands today is the one which was applied
> during  the elections held during the last AGMM without any opposition.
>
> This is what it provides:
>
> *9.2 Paper Ballot on Election Day*
>
> The voting conducted during the Annual General Members' Meeting is carried
> out via paper ballots containing a list of candidate names and a ballot
> number. Prior to the vote, all members present or participants holding a
> proxy will be requested to register and validate their membership status.
>
>    - Voters should only vote for one candidate per category/region. Each
>          mark on a ballot paper represents one vote. A ballot with more than one
>          mark per category/region will be considered spoilt, and not be counted.
>          - The ballot paper should provide voters with the option to not
>          vote for any candidate (a.k.a. "None of the Above").
>          - This will be a secret ballot election. An inclusion of any
>          personal data on the ballot paper will invalidate the vote and will be
>          counted as spoilt.
>          - Elections will be closed as soon as the last member or proxy
>          present in the meeting room casts his/her vote. Candidates with the highest
>          number of votes in each category will be declared winners.
>          - In the event of a tie for an open position, voting for that
>          position will be repeated (Only by paper ballot) the same day until there
>          is a winner.
>          - All open positions shall be subject to an election process
>          even if there is only one candidate. In that event, if the option [none of
>          the above] got more votes than the only candidate, then the seat shall be
>          considered vacant and the Board will be requested to apply
>          provisions of the Bylaws to temporarily fill the vacant seat
>
> The last amendment of the election guidelines introduced the voting option
> “ None of the Above”. –(Vide second bullet point above.)Those voters who
> have cast their votes for “ None of the Above” have done so in compliance
> with the prevailing  constitution  and these are thus valid votes. Every
> voter was aware of the new option.
>
> The election guidelines are clear as to what happens when the “ None of
> the Above” option has a majority.- (Vide last bullet point above.)
>
> The election guidelines must be read as a whole and all the provisions
> read together.
>
> Legal Counsel –AFRINIC
>
> 17.05.2018
> oubakar Barry wrote:
>
> Hello Board and Legal Counsel,
>
> Good that Omo spotted this.
>
> It’s a matter of applying the board election process adopted by the board
> according to section 13.2 of the bylaws.
>
> https://afrinic.net/en/community/elections/bod-election/process describes
> the process and section 9 spells out how to interpret the results in the
> case there are more than one candidate and in the case there is only one
> candidate. These two cases are addressed separately and differently.
>
> It’s important to hear from the Board and the Legal Counsel, as the
> elections can be challenged.
>
> Please advise.
>
> Regards.
>
> Boubakar
>
> On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 5:24 PM, Omo Oaiya <Omo.Oaiya at wacren.net> wrote:
>
>> Greetings All,
>>
>> I am looking at the BoD election process and it seems to me that the
>> recent e-mail from the Board Chair seeking nominations for vacant seats
>> should not be extended to Western Africa.
>>
>> The particular clause I am referring to is in 9.2 -
>> https://afrinic.net/en/community/elections/bod-election/process
>>
>>
>>    -
>>    Elections will be closed as soon as the last member or proxy present
>>    in the meeting room casts his/her vote. Candidates with the highest number
>>    of votes in each category will be declared winners
>>
>> I see from the list for West Africa that the candidate with the highest
>> number of votes should have been declared winner and this is Dr Ousmane
>> Tessa.  (btw, Dr Adewale Adedokun needs his name spelt correctly)
>>
>>
>> *Western Africa - Seat 2*
>>
>> Dr Adelawe Abedekon - 43
>>
>> Dr Ousmane Moussa Tessa - 56
>>
>> None of the above - 78
>>
>> *Result: The seat is vacant*
>>
>>
>> The results from the other regions are valid and supported by the
>> following clause as they had one candidate.
>>
>>
>>    - All open positions shall be subject to an election process even if
>>       there is only one candidate. In that event, if the option [none of the
>>       above] got more votes than the only candidate, then the seat shall be
>>       considered vacant and the Board will be requested to apply provisions of
>>       the Bylaws to temporarily fill the vacant seat.
>>
>>
>> Can AfriNIC and the nomcom please clarify?   We should not deprive Dr
>> Tessa of a rightful win …. especially in the circumstances we find
>> ourselves.
>>
>> Omo
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
>
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