Election process (was re: [rpd] AFRINIC Board Elections - 2014: Call for Nominations)

Sat May 10 23:52:24 UTC 2014

As a general rule, in most organizations, participating in the nomination committee is considered a COI with participating in the running of the election. I believe the election process itself is run by AfriNIC staff with non-voting observers usually from other regions.

I do think it is a good suggestion to staff or whoever is running the election process to not count/reveal/examine the e-vote results prior to the conclusion of all voting.

Owen

On May 10, 2014, at 7:40 AM, Seun Ojedeji <seun.ojedeji at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello Mark,
> 
> Thanks for referencing the bylaw directly and i guess that clears the nomcom/election committee (although i think the wording on the nomcom page may need to be updated [1])
> 
> Just one question, do you think its right to have access to voting results before conclusion of elections?
> 
> If your response is a NO, could nomcom (on the capacity of coordinating the process) then make sure that the e-voting result is for the first time accessed during the counting of the paper ballot.
> 
> Will that be possible without any complication?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Regards
> 1. www.afrinic.net/en/community/elections/afrinic-nomcom
> 
> 
> On Sat, May 10, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Mark Elkins <mje at posix.co.za> wrote:
> On Sat, 2014-05-10 at 12:42 +0100, Seun Ojedeji wrote:
> > Hello Mark,
> >
> >
> > First considering that i wrote to chair (you) and nomcom, i assume
> > this response is on behalf of nomcom (do let me know if its otherwise
> > in your individual capacity). Kindly find my comments below:
> >
> > On Sat, May 10, 2014 at 11:10 AM, Mark Elkins <mje at posix.co.za> wrote:
> >
> >
> >         Firstly, NomCom does not run the elections. The job of NomCom
> >         (Nominations Committee) is to provide suitable candidates for
> >         various
> >         elections or appointments, Board Members, PDP Joint-Chairs,
> >         and NRO/ASO
> >         representatives.
> >         >
> >
> > Although nomcom may seem to mean what you indicated above. However
> > nomcom according to the AFRINIC website means this:
> > The NomCom (Nominations and Elections Committee) [1]Functions of the
> > Nomination Committee:
> >       * The Nom Com shall
> >               * use its best effort towards ensuring that a
> >                 satisfactory number of individuals from the African
> >                 internet community stand as candidate for the election
> >                 of the directors of AFRINIC.
> >               * have general responsibility for, and shall supervise
> >                 the conduct of the polls by the election Committee on
> >                 election day.
> > Although the second role seem to imply that there is another team
> > called "election committee" and at this point, i seem to be lost on
> > how that committee come to play. Nevertheless its still clear that
> > your team coordinates the process and your role exceeds what you have
> > stated above.
> 
> OK - let me use less of my own words and quote from the Bylaws...
> 
> 9 THE NOMINATION COMMITTEE
> There shall be a Nomination Committee (NomCom), which shall consist of a
> chairman and three other members as appointed by the Board and
> composed of qualified and experienced persons. The Board shall make a
> public call for voluntary nomination from the African Internet
> Community.
> 
> 10 ELECTION COMMITTEE
> There shall be an election committee comprising of such staff members of
> AFRINIC as may be designated by the Chief Executive Officer.
> 
> 
> >
> >         > Thanks for the opportunity to participate in nomcom.
> >
> >
> >         There are some logistics which people may be missing.
> >         I see that there is a goal to move to 100% electronic voting,
> >         however
> >         until then.....
> >
> >
> > Yes thats the final desire,(which will perhaps require the blessings
> > of BoD) but that is not the request for this upcoming election.
> >
> >
> >         Practically, the e-vote needs to be terminated some time
> >         before people collect their ballot papers. This is so that the
> >         ballot papers can be provided only to those entities allowed
> >         to vote because they have not
> >         yet exercised that right via the e-vote. In order to do this,
> >         logically, one needs to see which entities have used the
> >         e-vote so their representatives are not also given a ballot
> >         paper to vote with.
> >
> >
> > I still find it not convincing that the termination of e-voting is the
> > only way to avoid multiple voting. Especially since it is clear that
> > you go through a process before you can do e-voting, and it is
> > expected that anyone that opt for e-voting obviously doesn't want to
> > paper ballot. So its clear those to give paper ballot can be known
> > easily.
> >
> > What needs to be avoided is having privileged prior knowledge of the
> > e-voting status, your comment above doesn't prevent that.
> >
> >
> >         From a convenience point of view, the e-vote cut-off time is
> >         the evening before voting day. Names can then be checked. From
> >         the morning of voting day, paper ballots are issued to all
> >         still legible voters. This takes time. Paper Ballots are
> >         carried by their owners until they are "exercised" later on in
> >         the afternoon.
> >
> >
> > Please see my comment above about why i think we don't have to count
> > the e-votes just to get the numbers of those who used the e-voting
> > platform. Even if you don't think that option is totally perfect
> > (because some would already gotten their BPKI) then the voting
> > platform should be able clearly separate actual voting result from
> > from users(members) who has actually voted. Considering the level of
> > technicality already exhibited on the e-voting platform, i believe a
> > feature like that is the least challenge of the technical team (if it
> > doesn't already exist).
> >
> >
> >         I guess that in the process of checking the names of entities
> >         who have e-voted, one may also know how they have voted
> >         (though I might be wrong). I personally have no issues with
> >         this as long as the e-vote
> >         results are kept strictly confidential (as has been done).Once
> >         all the paper ballots have been submitted and counted, the
> >         results of the two systems can be safely merged into one
> >         election result and announced.
> >
> > Kindly refer to my comment above; keeping the e-vote confidential is
> > the main goal.
> >
> >
> >         Due to the fact that I represent more than one entity, I have
> >         more than one vote to cast. Last year, I cast some by e-vote
> >         and some by ballot paper. I was happy to see that the system
> >         worked.
> >
> > I did mine via e-voting and i believe no body who has used the
> > e-voting platform would deny that it was quite functional. I was
> > however surprised at the AGM when it was said that the voting system
> > closed and the result counted. The way i know that election is done is
> > that you count votes in the presence of the voters (or at least before
> > the candidates party representatives). On that basis as an individual
> > and member i wouldn't know whether something has happened to my votes
> > (although the platform worked).
> >
> >
> >         Before asking for change, please carefully consider how one
> >         might do this better whilst we have both e-votes and paper
> >         ballot votes.
> >
> > Nobody, and certainly not me is asking us to move to 100% e-votes for
> > now (but we agree its something to consider for future). What we are
> > saying is that you while may stop e-voting at a point (which i find
> > un-necessary though) the opening of the e-voting voting status by the
> > 3-trustees should be done the same time the paper ballot is counted.
> 
> >         ... and I believe I have the general details and reasoning
> >         correct... :-)
> 
> > Not quite Mark as i think you perceive we are calling for 100%
> > electronic voting which is not the case.
> 
> My own personal thoughts..... (Lots of 'I')
> 
> I believe Owen makes a good case for running e-voting to the end of the
> election time.
> 
> However, it does appear to me to make things more complicated.
> I can not quantify to myself though how useful it would practically be.
> I have no idea what technical changes would be necessary and if AFRINIC
> is going to change something - I'd rather see it spend the energy going
> to a full e-voting solution.
> 
> E-vote starts 10 days before the elections. I see it as a very suitable
> replacement for Proxies or for those that can not attend.
> Extending it to the last second will possibly encourage people to wait
> for the last second. I personally prefer the way it currently is which
> gives a few hours in case of technical difficulties.
> I like the KISS principal.
> 
> The AFRINIC website does state that e-votes and the people who have cast
> them are not conjoined. As I don't know how the software actually
> functions, I can not comment further.
> http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/elections/voting/online-voting
> (last line)
> 
> > Thanks
> >
> >
> > Kind Regards
> 
> >
> 
> --
> Mark J Elkins - AFRINIC 2014 Nominations Committee Chair
> mje at posix.co.za - nomcom2014 (at) afrinic.net
> Tel: +27.128070590  Cell: +27.826010496
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Seun Ojedeji,
> Federal University Oye-Ekiti
> web:      http://www.fuoye.edu.ng
> Mobile: +2348035233535
> alt email: seun.ojedeji at fuoye.edu.ng
> 
> The key to understanding is humility - my view !
> 
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