[rpd] Discussion about e-voting

Wed May 14 23:19:56 UTC 2014

Merci Serge

The point of getting many members to be aware and participate in election
of board of directors (BoD) explicitly stated.

Cheers
On May 15, 2014 1:14 AM, "Serge ILUNGA" <sergekbk at yahoo.fr> wrote:

>
>
> Le 13 mai 2014 à 18:52, Kofi ansa akufo <kofi.ansa at gmail.com> a écrit :
>
> There is in deed the need for  restructuring and composition if our
> organisation is to remain relevant in the continents growth through
> enabling ICT promotion.
>
> Why?
> The BOD act on behalf of the community by having a power of control over
> AfriNIC operations in achieving goals.
>
> The election process should be then reviewed not to be just casting of
> votes relegated to decision taken by a few for many passive members but
> rather as means to kick the impulse in many members to be active to decide
> how the organisation is steered.
>
> This brings to mind decentralization of AFRINIC operations across the
> continents to get many members actively involved and sensitized and not
> just light up during meetings. What is the status of that discussion?
>
> I see countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya with many members yet
> little or no operations of the RIR established there?
>
> How?
> Is the election process good enough to make BOD members accountable to the
> community?
> Are community members aware of the fact that AfriNIC is managed through
> the BOd by the community?
>
> Something for thought :)
>
> Kofi
>
> Serge I.
>
> On May 13, 2014 7:38 PM, "Boubakar Barry" <boubakarbarry at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Interesting discussions here.
>>
>> I think that what we can learn from all the expressed views is that
>> AfriNIC has to seriously look at the election process, starting from the
>> composition of NomCom and ending with the counting of votes.
>>
>> Nobody in this world can claim having in place a _perfect_ system, but
>> for our community, there is obviously room for improvement.
>>
>> And after improving what we have right now, we will for sure still have
>> to improve again and again...
>>
>> Best,
>> B.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 3:17 PM, Owen DeLong <owen at delong.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On May 13, 2014, at 6:02 AM, ademola at ng.lopworks.com wrote:
>>>
>>> > Animal Farm is all animals are equal but some animals are more equal
>>> than others. That is not democratic.
>>>
>>> True, but it also has no relationship whatsoever to the voting we are
>>> talking about. Each member organization still has only one vote.
>>>
>>> > Abuse is quite easy. I lobby to represent  so many members who really
>>> care less about what is happening on Afrinic. I end up with so many voting
>>> rights. I even go further to get a few more colleagues to do the same.
>>> Collectively we can block votes in our own personal interest. That is not
>>> even far fetched.
>>>
>>> I suppose that is possible, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate that
>>> it is actually happening or is likely to happen. Also, if this really is an
>>> issue, then wouldn’t others with competing interests have an equal ability
>>> to lobby for those same votes? Why would someone attempting to abuse the
>>> process have a greater advantage than one trying to prevent such abuse?
>>>
>>> > One voice should be one individual and one vote.
>>>
>>> Repeating this over and over again doesn’t make it any more rational
>>> than the firs time you said it.
>>>
>>> Owen
>>>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Regards,
>>> > Ademola Osindero
>>> > CEO/Consulting Director,
>>> > Lopworks Limited
>>> >
>>> > www.lopworks.com
>>> >   Original Message
>>> > From: Owen DeLong
>>> > Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 1:54 PM
>>> > To: ademola at ng.lopworks.com
>>> > Cc: Andrew Alston; Nii Narku Quaynor; rpd at afrinic.net
>>> > Subject: Re: [rpd] Discussion about e-voting
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On May 12, 2014, at 11:39 PM, ademola at ng.lopworks.com wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Hi All,
>>> >>
>>> >> My point is this is easily prone to abuse and would lead to Animal
>>> Farm situation.
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> > You are repeating yourself. Can you substantiate this in any way? What
>>> is the abuse you expect from this?
>>> >
>>> > What do you mean by “Animal Farm” situation? I doubt that we will be
>>> chanting “four legs good, two legs bad” at AfriNIC meetings any time soon.
>>> >
>>> >> On Andrew's example of board directorship, a Director is allowed to
>>> cast a vote "on the board of each company he or she is present". That is
>>> completely different from the director trying to cast a vote on a platform
>>> including many companies he or she represents. The later is the case of
>>> Afrinic.
>>> >
>>> > Do you think that other industry organizations prohibit people who are
>>> on the boards of multiple member organizations from voting for each and
>>> every organization they represent? I have never before encountered a
>>> situation where that is the case. If AfriNIC were to adopt such a policy,
>>> it would be quite unique in my experience.
>>> >
>>> > If this is such a source of abuse, then why is it not a problem in
>>> many other organizations with similar processes?
>>> >
>>> > Owen
>>> >
>>> >>
>>> >> To be lenient, it is worth reviewing the limit on proxy votes as
>>> stated by Nii Quaynor.
>>> >>
>>> >> Regards,
>>> >> Ademola Osindero
>>> >> CEO/Consulting Director,
>>> >> Lopworks Limited
>>> >>
>>> >> www.lopworks.com
>>> >> Original Message
>>> >> From: Andrew Alston
>>> >> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 7:22 AM
>>> >> To: Nii Narku Quaynor; ademola at ng.lopworks.com
>>> >> Cc: rpd at afrinic.net
>>> >> Subject: Re: [rpd] Discussion about e-voting
>>> >>
>>> >> Form my perspective, its a completely different issue.
>>> >>
>>> >> People wearing different hats is part of life, and part of standard
>>> >> business. Let me give you an example:
>>> >>
>>> >> An individual holds directorships on multiple boards (this is very
>>> common
>>> >> in business, and I can point to several examples).
>>> >>
>>> >> That individual has the right to vote within the board structures of
>>> each
>>> >> entity that he represents. Same thing.
>>> >>
>>> >> Or, to put this another way, when an individual votes at the AfriNIC
>>> >> elections, he does not vote as himself, he votes as a member. If the
>>> >> member chooses to designate him the right to vote, that is their
>>> right as
>>> >> member. To restrict an individual from representing multiple
>>> >> organisations would be equivalent to saying, if you¹re a director of
>>> one
>>> >> organisation, you cannot hold a directorship in another. If this were
>>> to
>>> >> happen, it might be noted that this would potentially exclude a lot of
>>> >> people from current and past boards who do hold directorships in other
>>> >> organisations.
>>> >>
>>> >> As stated by Ademola, one voice, one vote. The only thing is, it is
>>> still
>>> >> one voice one vote, where one voice = ONE MEMBER, the people actually
>>> >> costing the votes are the members, NOT the individual who is merely
>>> the
>>> >> instrument through which the members voice is heard.
>>> >>
>>> >> That¹s my opinion anyway
>>> >>
>>> >> Andrew
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On 5/13/14, 8:45 AM, "Nii Narku Quaynor" <quaynor at ghana.com> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >>> Just curious. How different is this multi hat different from holding
>>> >>> proxy? I recall Afrinic has a limit on proxy?
>>> >>>
>>> >>>> On May 13, 2014, at 0:20, ademola at ng.lopworks.com wrote:
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> What I find rather absurd is one person having multiple votes. What
>>> >>>> kind of election is that? It should be one voice one vote and that
>>> >>>> should mean one individual one vote.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Regards,
>>> >>>> Ademola Osindero
>>> >>>> CEO/Consulting Director,
>>> >>>> Lopworks Limited
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> www.lopworks.com
>>> >>>> Original Message
>>> >>>> From: Owen DeLong
>>> >>>> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2014 11:14 PM
>>> >>>> To: ademola at ng.lopworks.com
>>> >>>> Cc: mje at posix.co.za; rpd at afrinic.net
>>> >>>> Subject: Re: [rpd] Discussion about e-voting
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> I¹m sorry, but I think that is absurd. All it accomplishes is to
>>> force
>>> >>>> organizations to scramble trying to find additional individuals to
>>> cast
>>> >>>> their votes. It serves absolutely no useful purpose whatsoever,
>>> IMHO.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Owen
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>>> On May 12, 2014, at 3:03 PM, ademola at ng.lopworks.com wrote:
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> One individual one vote, irrespective of how many member
>>> organizations
>>> >>>>> you are affiliated to. Once an individual's identity is associated
>>> with
>>> >>>>> a member, then the person will cast vote for only that member and
>>> no
>>> >>>>> other member.
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> Regards,
>>> >>>>> Ademola Osindero
>>> >>>>> CEO/Consulting Director,
>>> >>>>> Lopworks Limited
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> www.lopworks.com
>>> >>>>> Original Message
>>> >>>>> From: Owen DeLong
>>> >>>>> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2014 10:58 PM
>>> >>>>> To: mje at posix.co.za
>>> >>>>> Cc: rpd at afrinic.net
>>> >>>>> Subject: Re: Fwd: [rpd] Discussion about e-voting
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>>>> 2. Going forward IMHO I think we should discouraged multiple
>>> voting
>>> >>>>>>> by
>>> >>>>>>> an individual for different members since the probability of
>>> voting
>>> >>>>>>> differently is low and this only goes to increase votes across
>>> one
>>> >>>>>>> side only. A "polished form" of election rigging. I know some
>>> will
>>> >>>>>>> argue one can still like gin with different credentials and vote
>>> one
>>> >>>>>>> sided but then :)
>>> >>>>>>>
>>> >>>>>>> Could someone from the community enlighten me on this please.
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> To echo what Mark said in slightly less confrontational languageŠ
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> One member, one vote. Each member should be able to choose who
>>> casts
>>> >>>>> the vote on behalf of that member. I see nothing wrong with
>>> members who
>>> >>>>> wish to have the same person represent their interests doing so.
>>> It is
>>> >>>>> not election rigging if 25 different member organizations all
>>> select
>>> >>>>> the same person to cast votes on their behalf. Presumably each
>>> member
>>> >>>>> organization is capable of choosing a voting representative who
>>> will
>>> >>>>> vote in a manner consistent with their desires and interests.
>>> Likely if
>>> >>>>> they were each forced to choose a different person in order to
>>> avoid
>>> >>>>> being disenfranchised as you propose, you would simply see a larger
>>> >>>>> group of voters who are potentially less informed and less
>>> motivated. I
>>> >>>>> do not think that would be beneficial to AfriNIC, to the
>>> community, nor
>>> >>>>> to the members.
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> It seems to me that this is not in any way equivalent to stuffing
>>> the
>>> >>>>> ballot box or rigging the election. If those organizations all
>>> pick the
>>> >>>>> same person to represent them, either they trust that person to
>>> share
>>> >>>>> their ideals/needs/wants or they trust that person to vote as they
>>> >>>>> instruct on their behalf. In either case, that person is
>>> legitimately
>>> >>>>> exercising the vote designated by the member organization on
>>> behalf of
>>> >>>>> each member organization.
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> Owen
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>>
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