[members-discuss] Request to amend the RIPE NCC Articles of Association

Hi Nigel, all,
On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 11:01:04AM +0100, Nigel Titley wrote:

>We would like to hear more feedback from the membership on these voting
>issues. Do members think there is a case for removing the option to vote
>with paper ballot and by proxy?

As for abolishing the paper ballot, I support this in principle. Some
members have made good points though, regarding the secrecy and
anonymity of electronic ballots. On a positive side, not needing time
to vote during GM leaves more time to debate the agenda points...
IMO this issue may need further debate and careful judgement.

On the issue of proxies, is there data on what percentage of the vote is
by proxy? On one hand, abolishing proxies prevents the accumulation of
disproportional voting power in very few hands; OTOH, it may lead to a
reduction in "turn-out". Not yet sure which side to take...

(full-disclosure: I usually vote a few (electronic) proxies myself)

>On a slightly different issue, we have received comments asking that 
>we open electronic
>voting before the General Meeting. However, the board would prefer that
>members cast their vote after the presentations and discussions on each
>issue so they will be fully informed before voting.

With the Board there, voting w/o debate is fundamentally undemocratic.

>We also feel that the current electronic voting window is sufficient to
>allow all members in the service region to cast their votes (some
>calculations show that if were to hold a General meeting in the easternmost
>timezone in the region then the westernmost zone (Iceland) would still have
>2 hours of working time to cast their vote). However, if members
>believe that the voting window should be extended we would
>also like to hear from you.

I think 24h is sufficient.

rgds,
Sascha Luck