Governance Committee Election Process 2018

Election and Nomination process for GovCom Members

1. Introduction

The AFRINIC Governance Committee (GC) is a standing committee whose purpose is to advise the AFRINIC Board, AFRINIC Membership, and the community, on matters of governance.

The charter of the GC can be found here

This document describes the nomination and election process of the 3 GC volunteers elected by AFRINIC members as provided for in the GC Charter.

 

2. Nomination Process

It is expected that NomCom will try to source for nominations from each of the six (6) AFRINIC sub-regions. In the spirit of inclusion, nominations should cater to gender and language diversity.

2.1 Eligibility

2.1.1 In-line with 5.2.3 of the GC charter, GC members shall be resident in the AFRINIC service region.

2.1.2 In-line with 5.2.7 of the GC Charter, none of the elected members may be an AFRINIC Director or an AFRINIC employee.

2.1.3 No person shall be appointed to the GC if he/she:

• is under 18 years of age;
• is an undischarged bankrupt;
• is not a natural person, or
• has been adjudged to have been of unsound mind.

2.1.4 A valid nomination must originate from or be submitted by an authorized and registered contact person of the nominating member organization. The nomination must also be seconded/endorsed by at least one additional AFRINIC member, different from the nominating member organization. Nominators and seconders/endorsers must all be AFRINIC members in good standing.

2.1.5 Self-nominations are permitted and must be endorsed by 2 distinct AFRINIC members in good standing.

2.1.6 A member in good standing refers to an AFRINIC member that has signed the AFRINIC Registration Service Agreement and who has no unsettled financial debt with AFRINIC.

 

 

3. Election Timeline 

Date	Activity/Milestone
4-Mar-2019	Opening the Candidate nomination period.
8-Apr-2019	Close of Candidate nomination period
21-May-2019	NomCom announces final candidate slate; Opening of the public comments period;
6-Jun-2019	Open the system for e-voting and proxy appointment
19-Jun-2019	Closing of the proxy appointment and registration period.
20-Jun-2019	Election day at AGMM (and close of election voting).

 

4. Verifying Nominations

NomCom shall:

• Notify nominees and nominators of the receipt of a nomination while verifying that all nominations were submitted within the given period and that all required information has been included with each nomination.
• Timely communicate to all seconders included with each nomination to get confirmation of nominee’s secondment before the closing of nominations.
• Timely communicate to nominees and nominators about the ineligibility of a nomination, the reasons that a nomination has been rejected, and the requirements needed for a nomination to be valid.

 

5. Finalising the Slate

• NomCom shall review all valid nominations and may decide to conduct interviews or further background checks on nominees.
• Additional requirements and checks over and above those mentioned in this document may be imposed by NomCom whether or not they are included in the call for nominations. NomCom chair will decide the means to be used for such further evaluation.
• NomCom Chair will forward the final slate to the community and the elections committee.

 

6. Public Comment Period

The candidate list and biographical information shall be published on the AFRINIC website with the ability for the community to comment on each candidate. 

7. Withdrawal of a Nomination

A nomination may be withdrawn by notifying the NomCom Chair at least 7 days before the start of electronic voting. The withdrawal notification must be submitted by either the nominator or the candidate. In any case, both the nominator and the candidate must be informed to verify and confirm the withdrawal before it can be formally accepted.

 

8. Voting

Votes shall be cast electronically or by paper ballot.

 

8.1 Eligible Voters

Only organisations and persons fulfilling the following criteria are able to vote:

• Any AFRINIC Resource member in good standing.
• All Registered Members.
• Appointed proxies approved by the CEO at least 24 hours prior to voting day.

The following voting criteria apply to all candidates:

• A candidate cannot carry a proxy (in-line with 12.12(ix) of the Bylaws ).
• A candidate can carry the votes of Resources Members they formally represent, having been registered as one of the organisation's contact persons for at least 12 months before the election date or since that organisation's commencement of membership if less than 12 months old.
• A candidate without a valid membership status cannot vote.

8.2 Proxies

An organisation that is not able to send a representative the meeting can give its voting rights to a proxy (per Sections 12.11 and 12.12 of the AFRINIC bylaws) as follows:

 

8.2.1 By filling the proxy appointment form available from the member's profile within the MyAFRINIC portal. The form must be downloaded, signed and a copy must be sent by e-mail to the Elections Committee on [ ecom at afrinic dot net ] not later than 24 hours before the election date.

 

8.2.2 A proxy instrument can be printed on the official and actual letterhead of the Member organization. The elections committee will take necessary steps at their discretion to verify the authenticity of a proxy authorization instrument not generated through MyAFRINIC.

 

a. The paper document embodying the proxy instrument must be duly signed by:

1. Either a registered administrative contact of the Member. (For the avoidance of doubt, AFRINIC's database shall be used for counter verification), or:
2. A director of the company, on whose letterhead the paper proxy document has been printed, and whose name is listed on the said letterhead.

b. The affixing of a company seal to the paper proxy instruments is not mandatory.

 

8.2.3 Members who are natural persons and who do not have a letterhead are exempted from the obligation of printing the proxy instrument on a letterhead.

 

8.2.4 No member entitled to vote shall carry more than 5 proxies during the said election (Ref. section 12.12 of the by-laws).

 

8.2.5 No Candidate to the election shall act as a proxy for any member during such an election (Ref. section 12.12(ix) of the by-laws).

 

8.3 Electronic Voting

The electronic voting platform is integrated into the MyAFRINIC portal and will be accessible only to members in good standing. The following will apply to e-voting:

1. Starts 7 days before the General Meeting date.
2. Ends simultaneously with the regular paper-ballot voting.
3. “Trustees” that are set up to unlock and tally the e-vote system shall consist of the AFRINIC CEO, NomCom Chair, and the AFRINIC Legal Counsel.
4. E-votes are tallied using the e-voting tallying system. The total of the two results (e-vote and paper ballot) will constitute the final result.

 

8.4 Paper Ballot on Election Day

Voting is carried out via paper ballots containing a list of candidate names and a ballot number. Prior to the vote, all members present or participants holding a proxy will be requested to register and validate their membership status.

 

1. The ballot paper should provide voters with the option to not vote for any candidate (a.k.a. "None of the Above").
2. This is a secret ballot election. An inclusion of any personal data on the ballot paper will invalidate the vote and will be counted as spoilt.
3. Elections will be closed as soon as the last member or proxy present in the meeting room casts his/her vote.
4. For the initial/first GC election, the following conditions shall apply:
   1. The candidate with the most votes will serve a three-year term;
   2. All other candidates from the same sub-region will be eliminated;
   3. The remaining candidate with the most votes will serve a two-year term;
   4. All other candidates from the same sub-region will be eliminated;
   5. The remaining candidate with the most votes will serve a one-year term;
5. The Provisions in 8.4.d above shall be revised at each subsequent election in line with the GC charter.

8.5 Vote Counting and Announcement of Election Results

1. A representative of the NomCom, and members of the Election Committee present, in addition to not more than four (4) volunteers from the other RIRs, shall count the paper votes to determine the winners.
2. The Chair of the NomCom will announce the election results after the full vote count including the e-voting results with the vote detail for only the elected candidates.

 

The CEO shall send the final results by e-mail not more than 48 hours after the election to the members’ mailing lists and other channels used to send announcements to the community. Election results shall be simultaneously published on the AFRINIC website.