[AfriNIC-rpd] NomCom at AFRINIC-16

[Jackson Muthili]

On Sun, May 20, 2012 at 5:18 PM, gift <gift at itibots.com> wrote:
>  Hi Doug and all
>
> From these interesting discussions I can see that I missed a lot and
> probably reduced my prospects for election. :'( :-) But that is for another
> day. I would like to share my thoughts on the issues raised by several
> others:
>
> 1. The election of PDP Chair seems a simple matter but often turns out
> complicated, high expectations yet few takers or is it few qualified! I tend
> to think that for historical reasons nominations for this position must
> close during the election meeting, say a day before the election day. Nomcom
> will be announcing the candidates as and when they are received and cleared
> as valid nominations. This will give a window to participants at the meeting
> for further discussion and to allow any more candidates to come up. The
> candidates who are nominated early should not be prejudiced in any way as in
> fact they will have benefited from a longer exposure to the electorate.
> Those that come up late may be  be disadvantaged(are they?) but its their
> choice. In the end everything should equalize as that will be the rule of
> the game. I am sure this will allow a suitable candidate to emerge most all
> the time. It seems to me that the candidate comment board and period is not
> taken seriously by most in the community with the actual vote and candidate
> presentations taking more prominence.
>
> 2. Regarding the lobbying for for votes, the very essence of election
> implies lobbying for votes. I was a candidate in the recent election and
> apart from being limited to one proxy I am not ware of any other
> limitations. If I phoned or emailed a member in the community (irrespective
> of how I obtained the contact details) to give them my profile (even my
> video tape) and ask for them to vote for me would I have broken any
> community rule? Who would prove how I obtained the contact details as there
> are surely many ways of doing this? What is the problem? The way the contact
> details were obtained, the medium of communication, the campaign message
> etc? What methods of campaigning for votes are allowed. Is it not fair to
> assume that most of the information on the AfriNIC website is public unless
> otherwise protected or stated. How are members supposed to communicate for
> peering and otherwise? As the organization and its profile grows, there will
> definitely be more interest and stiffer contest for positions. I think we
> need to come up with a code of conduct for electioneering which clearly
> shows unethical conduct and why it is so. What is coming up in the absence
> of clear rules can easily be dismissed as innuendos, suspicions and even
> jealous.
>
> 3. It would seem to me that the community loves the mailing list and finds
> it more user friendly to communicate, share and drive any change process.
> Most likely because it is user friendly and interactive. May be at each
> election we should have an election mailing list (not to abuse rpd mailing
> list) where candidates can post their manifestos, can be asked questions and
> members can debate. They can even do audio and video recordings and provide
> links for those who want to access them since technology allows us this
> pleasure.
>
> 4. The current restriction on proxies does not make sense to me as for some
> strange reason it downgrades a candidate to a lesser voter who can not carry
> more than one proxy when a non candidate voter has no limits, for the simple
> reason that he can out do his competitor even without fraud or infringement!
> It also limits the freedom of association on the part of the member
> appointing the proxy. Valid proxies can only be obtained/issued willingly
> and how can they be harmful to an election. The idea that when e-voting
> kicks in then proxies must stop is unworkable as voting by proxy goes hand
> in hand with physical votes on election day.


Gift is spot on it does not make sense to limit candidate to one proxy
and other voters to several proxies. Totally baseless and suggests
disenfranchisement and inequality of both voters.

> 5. One option is to have postal votes in place of voting by proxy where
> paper ballots are completed and transmitted electronically by any member who
> wants to exercise their vote but can not attend election meeting. This will
> require adequate controls attached to the voting member's identity,
> registration number, signature etc. Obviously such votes would need to be
> received a day before the election. This may appear to be redundant in view
> of e-vote but the wider the choices the better for democracy. No need to
> disenfranchise any body.
>
> 6. For the board election which is a paper vote is it not possible to adopt
> of a ballot which indicates in front of each candidate two options or
> choices for election as either primary or associate. How accurate is the
> assumption that he who gets more votes under the current open system is in
> fact the best or intended candidate for the role. This way I think the vote
> becomes both quantitative and qualitative.
>
> Regards
>
> Gift
>
>
> On 18/05/2012 08:13 PM, Douglas Onyango wrote:
>>
>> Alan, et al,
>> On 18 May 2012 17:58, Alan Barrett<apb at cequrux.com>  wrote:
>>>
>>> It's unfortunate that
>>> the accused persons were not given an opportunity to address the
>>> allegations
>>> during the meeting.
>>
>> It is my believe that the AfriNIC (community and Ltd) are community
>> centred organizations, and as such, the views and sentiments of this
>> constituent should at all times be respected.
>>
>> I think it wasn't in order for the chair to try and put this matter to
>> rest quickly. I hope that in the future this aspect will be properly
>> articulated to the chair as their mandate is being handed down.
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>
>
>
> --
> Gift Shava
> Financial Controller
>
> Information Technology Integrators
> www. itibots.com<http://itibots.com>
>
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>
>
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