ICANN/DNSO


DNSO election of ICANN Board member in 2000


Convention-Style voting procedure used for the DNSO selection of ICANN Board members

A rough outline of the rules that would govern a convention-style voting procedure.

  1. BASIC RULES
    1. The list of Director nominees is presented to the NC.
    2. Each NC member votes for one nominee.
    3. The nominees are ranked by the number of votes received, and the NC is informed of the result.
    4. The lowest vote-getting nominee is eliminated from the list. [For the first round, all nominees receiving zero votes *and* the lowest vote-getting nominee are eliminated from the list.]
    5. The procedure is repeated with the new (reduced) list.
    6. A winner is declared when a nominee receives 10 or more of the NC's 19 votes.

    In order to reduce the number of rounds of voting, the NC might eliminate the *two* lowest vote-getting nominees after each round (until such time as three nominees remain, at which point the *one* lowest vote-getting nominee is eliminated).

  2. VARIATIONS BY VOTING MEDIUM
  3. BY EMAIL

    To conduct a convention-style election by email:

    The disadvantage of this method is that it will be time-consuming and at least some NC members will likely miss the deadline for at least some rounds of voting. At least 24 hours will be required for each round, unless the NC members agree in advance to check their email (for example) every 8 hours over the course of a 3-day period.

    BY TELEPHONE AND EMAIL

    To conduct a convention-style election by phone and email:

    Under this scenario, the NC members will be voting during a teleconference. There is a guarantee that nobody will miss any round, the second telephone line providing for a backup of difficult situations (no email access).

    This variation allows for secret voting, but may actually lengthen the teleconference due to (i) the time necessary to call the NC members without email access, and (ii) the time required for the Secretariat to read the emails and tally the votes.

    The past NC experience indicates that one vote request for one hour time, and that it is not wise to expect to last the teleconference for more than two hours.

    Under this scenario the teleconferences shall be scheduled on consecutive days.

Implementation of Convention-Style voting procedure and timetible for 2000 vote

Updated 11 September 2000

The DNSO Secretariat will keep votes secret untill the end of election period, and at the end make all records public.

During the Names Council electronic vote between 11 and 17 September 2000 the public archiving of the council@dnso.org list will be temporarily stoped.

The full record of votes (who voted for whom) will be discosed at the end of selection process, after the acceptance of the results by the ICANN Board. The council@dnso.org list will be reopen at the same time.

  1. Preliminary round via email.
  2. The purpose of the preliminary round is to learn (practice of voting procedure by the NC) and to show relative preferences between nominees. It was resolved that no candidates will be be eliminated in the preliminary round.

    Time:

    Begins: Monday 11 September 22:00 CET (20:00 UTC)
    Ends: Thursday 14 September 12:00 CET (10:00 UTC)

    19 voting NC members, 3 vote each, 57 total.

    The results will be given within one hour after the close of the preliminary round, and will allow NC members to discuss strategies before the begginig of the NC telecon.

  3. Selection of the candidate for the ICANN Board.

    1. First round during the NC telecon:

      Time:

      Begins: Thursday 14 September 14:00 CET (12:00 UTC)
      Ends: Thursday 14 September 16:00 CET (14:00 UTC)

      19 voting NC members, 1 vote each, 19 total.

      • during the telecon the Secretariat emails a ballot to each NC member, and gives by phone all nominees;
      • each NC member emails his/her vote back to the Secretariat; those of NC members who cannot email during the telecon, call the special phone number provided by the Secretariat and give their choice;
      • the nominees are ranked by the number of votes received, and the NC is informed of the result;
      • the lowest vote-getting nominee is eliminated from the list; [For the first round, all nominees receiving zero votes *and* the lowest vote-getting nominee are eliminated from the list.]
      • the procedure is repeated with the new (reduced) list;
      • a winner is declared when a nominee receives 10 or more of the NC's 19 votes.

      It is highly probable that after 2 hours of telecon and voting (no more than 2 ballots expected to be voted upon) the processus is not yet ended. In such a situation the next NC telecon is convened for Friday 15 September 14:00 CET, and:

      • the Secretariat emails a ballot to each NC member, on Thursday 14 September, just after the end of a telecon;
      • each NC member shall emails his/her vote back to the Secretariat within next 21 hours, and before the Friday 14 September 13:00 CET (11:00 UTC).

      The voting may continue during the additional NC telecons with exactly the same procedure like for the first round.

    2. Second round during the NC telecon:

      Time:

      Begins: Friday 15 September 14:00 CET (12:00 UTC)
      Ends: Friday 15 September 16:00 CET (14:00 UTC)

    3. Third round during the NC telecon (if necessary):

      Time:

      Begins: Saturday 16 September 14:00 CET (12:00 UTC)
      Ends: Saturday 16 September 16:00 CET (14:00 UTC)

    After the selection of the candidate for 3 years term at the ICANN Board by the Names Council the written notification of the selection result will be sent to the ICANN Board and published on the DNSO web site.

    It is required that such notification will be sent no later than 16 September 2000.


    Information from:
    © DNSO Names Council