[ga] Motion process rules -- DRAFT 0.1

[Alexander Svensson <alexander@svensson.de>]

MOTION PROCESS RULES OF THE DNSO GA --  D R A F T v0.1 

(1) SCOPE OF THESE RULES

These rules apply only to motions of the DNSO General
Assembly. Elections of the GA Chair and Alternate Chair 
follow the GA Chair Election Rules. The voting process
itself follows the DNSO GA Voting Rules and the Voting 
Registry Rules.


(2) MAKING MOTION PROPOSALS

All motion proposals must be sent to ga-motions@dnso.org
and are automatically archived on the DNSO website. The 
address ga-motions@dnso.org shall not be used for discussion
about the proposal. The proponent must be a member of the 
DNSO GA Voting Registry. The motion proposal should follow 
this format:
 
  Proponent name           : 
  Proponent e-mail address :
  GA Voting Registry member: [yes/no]
  Title of proposed motion : "[max. 100 characters]"
  Short title              : "[max. 30 characters, should also
                              be the subject of the mail]"
  Full text of the proposal


(3) SCOPE AND NAMING OF MOTION PROPOSALS

Motion proposals addressing issues which are in the 
primary responsibility of a different Supporting 
Organization than the DNSO are not acceptable motions. 
Motion proposals addressing issues which are evidently
not in the responsibility of ICANN are not acceptable
motions. The Chair can require an adjustment of the 
title or short title of the motion proposal in a way 
that reflects the content of the proposal.


(4) SUPPORTING MOTION PROPOSALS

A motion proposal must be supported by 4 percent of 
the total membership of the DNSO GA Voting Registry
within four weeks, starting with the announcement on the
GA mailing list. Statements of support shall be sent to 
ga-motions@dnso.org and should follow this format:

  Supporter name           : 
  Supporter e-mail address :
  GA Voting Registry member: [yes/no]
  I support the following
  motion proposal          : [proposal title]
  

(5) DISCUSSING MOTIONS

When the required number of supporters has been reached, 
the official motion discussion period begins. This does not 
prohibit discussion of the motion before the official 
discussion period starts. The time of the discussion period 
is fourteen days. During the discussion period, the DNSO
General Assembly has the opportunity to discuss the
merits and implications of the motion and to develop
alternative proposals. This period can be extended by 
up to fourteen days by the Chair, especially if there 
is no or very little discussion of the motion. 


(6) AMENDING MOTIONS

There are two ways of amending motions: Friendly 
amendments must be accepted by the original proponent 
of the motion and not be opposed by more than 1/4
of the original supporters within a week. Alternatively, a 
motion -- on the same issue as a motion which has met the 
required number of supporters as stated in (4) -- can be 
submitted as a motion proposal, requiring the support of 
2 percent of the total membership of the DNSO GA Voting 
Registry within two weeks. Voting Registry members can 
support any number of motion proposals. The official 
discussion period for such alternative motions on the 
same topic is seven days and can be extended by up to 
fourteen days.


(7) RETRACTING MOTIONS

A motion can be retracted by its original proponent;
the retraction has to be sent to ga-motions@dnso.org.
If 3/4 of the original supporters want to keep the
motion or if support for the motion evidently matches or
exceeds the number of supporters stated in (4), the
motion only needs a new proponent to continue in the
process.


(8) MAKING EMERGENCY MOTION PROPOSALS

If a proponent believes that the motion requires
immediate attention, he/she can note in his motion proposal
that he/she is proposing an emergency motion. The email
format for proposing and supporting the motion proposal 
remains the same; the emergency motion proposal must be 
supported by 7 percent of the total membership of the 
DNSO GA Voting Registry within seven days. The discussion
period lasts seven days and can only be extended by up
to seven days.


(9) APPROVING THE BALLOT

If the required number of GA Voting Registry members
have expressed their support and the motion has been
discussed by the GA members, the Chair of the DNSO 
General Assembly will approve a ballot in accordance with 
the DNSO GA Voting Rules. If possible, the Chair shall 
choose a starting date which allows to address all 
current motions, taking into account relevant deadlines 
such as public comment periods or meetings of the ICANN 
Board.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Some answers to possible questions:

Do you have a diagram for this?
  http://www.icannchannel.de/tmp/motion-voting-rules-01.pdf
  (55kB) -- hope it's helpful. 

Why aren't you using the "Best Practices" document by
Joanna and Bill?
  While I find it very useful, I think the rules are too
  long and difficult to understand, especially for
  non-native speakers of English. (Actually, I doubt that
  even 1/10 of the GA members have read them.) On the 
  other hand, I believe that we need rules to process 
  motions *quickly*. The proposed rules are 5kB of text and 
  hopefully easy to understand.

Why is it "easier" to propose an alternative motion on the
same topic than an "original" motion?
  If 4% of the Voting Registry members support a motion,
  this shows considerable interest in an issue -- that's
  good and indicates that there should be a vote. However,
  there should also be an incentive to improve the first
  motion at hand after discussing it. Additionally, it's
  not sure whether it is so much easier: Keep in mind
  that the time frame for alternative motion proposals
  is shorter (2% in *two* weeks). It's not an unfair
  advantage, since ultimately, the voters decide it by
  voting. Some have argued that we should achieve
  consensus by merging all proposed motions into one
  before the voting. I believe that we can only see if 
  there is consensus *after* the voting; for that reason
  I don't mind giving the GA voters the choice between
  several motions.

Why does it take more supporters for an "emergency motion"?
  I'm not sure if we need emergency motions at all, but
  if we want to use an abbreviated procedure to deal with
  issues e.g. directly before an ICANN meeting, we need
  some checks if we want to give up some of the procedure,
  allowing less time for discussion.

Why do we need motion process rules at all?
  Currently, there are no rules to decide when a motion
  has been formally established, how many supporters are
  needed, how much time for discussion is needed etc.
  Consequently, each time there is a vote, we have lots
  of discussion about how a vote should be run.

Why isn't the voting itself covered?
  We already have voting rules, voting registry rules and
  Chair election rules -- see the DNSO site. 

Are these rules perfect?
  [As if someone would actually ask that question...]
  Of course not, but I think they are much better than the
  current situation. 

So the Chair/Alt.Chair hopes to gain more power, right?
  Nope. Currently, Thomas and I have to resort to "making
  up rules as we go along". For instance, there is no
  rule to guide us how much time we should leave for
  discussion. This makes (a) GA members unhappy and (b)
  us unhappy, because we are criticized for whatever
  decision we make (too little time, too much time etc.)

Have to leave it there,
/// Alexander
  

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