NCSG Election Clarifications

[dorothy g]

Thank you for the clarification Robin.  I note that we had a female
candidate who dropped out perhaps not realising that there was this
requirement in the Charter and this is how the situation would play out.
Perhaps next election we should remind everyone early on. I also agree with
you and Peter that we may need to look at this issue in more depth after
the election.

best regards
Dorothy

On Tue, Jun 2, 2020 at 12:54 AM Robin Gross <robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:

> Dear Peter,
>
> I understand your frustration, however the charter is rather clear on this
> point and gender diversity requirements exist GNSO-wide, not only to NCSG
> positions.
>
> The “reasonable efforts” charter language applies to what efforts we
> should take to obtain candidates to meet the gender balance requirements,
> furthermore, that phrase is explicitly qualified by the words “in no
> circumstance should there be fewer than 2 members of any gender.”  We
> provided for “reasonable efforts” to obtain more candidates when we
> extended the nomination period to accept additional nominees.
>
> Also, I said we were “momentarily worried” that we wouldn’t meet the
> requirements, not that it did happen that we didn’t meet the requirements.
> NCSG had significantly more female GNSO Councilors than males about 3-6
> years ago so we had to keep an eye on the requirement.  As I said, now we
> only have a single female GNSO Councilor continuing on Council, thus the
> gender rules, which are absolute in the charter (“in no circumstance”) come
> into play, and so any female candidate who gets a vote will be elected.  It
> may seem unfair, but the membership needs to step up and be willing to be
> nominated for these positions if they wish to do them.
>
> The charter does provide for a means for amendment (Art. 5) should
> membership wish to do things differently.  Thank you.
>
> Best,
> Robin
>
> On Jun 1, 2020, at 5:12 PM, Akinremi Peter Taiwo <compsoftnet at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Thanks Robin.
>
>  3.1 says reasonable efforts. I know the communication is done in good
> faith. No doubt! However, reasonable efforts does not rule out the charter
> stands for election. While the candidate has a strong position and
> competency needed on the GNOS Council, I see no reason for that statement.
>
> Because it has been done before does not mean it is a good practice.
> Though you didn't specify what year that was put into use.
>
> Let's put that reasonable efforts to use.
>
> My submission.
>
> ᐧ
>
> On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 11:48 PM Robin Gross <robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear Peter,
>>
>> The basis for the rules we follow regarding elections to the GNSO can be
>> found in Art. 3.1. of the NCSG Charter.  We have been using this system
>> since it was adopted in 2011. You may disagree with it; there is indeed
>> some rigidity to it. You are also free to voice your disagreement.  A few
>> years ago, we were momentarily worried that we would not have enough male
>> candidates to meet our charter requirement, and now the pendulum has swung
>> in the opposite direction and we almost didn’t have enough female members
>> to meet our charter requirement for gender diversity.  The prohibition in
>> the charter that “in no circumstance should there be fewer than 2 members
>> of any gender” on council is rather inflexible and strong in its
>> requirement for gender diversity.
>>
>> While elections are often a time where procedural debates arise, we would
>> however encourage discussions about changes to our electoral system for the
>> GNSO Council positions to take place outside the electoral period. The
>> reason for this is that a change to this electoral process would require a
>> Charter amendment, in line with the rules at Art. 5 of said Charter.
>>
>> You can find the most recent version of the NCSG Charter here:
>> https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/filefield_25801/ncsg-charter-05may11-en.pdf
>>
>> Thank you for your understanding and continued engagement.
>>
>> Best,
>> Robin
>>
>> On Jun 1, 2020, at 2:50 PM, Akinremi Peter Taiwo <compsoftnet at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Robin,
>>
>> As much as your clarification cleared the air, kindly provide link to the
>> text in the NCSG charter wherein it is stated that because of gender
>> diversity, a candidate will be auto elect. Maybe this has to be the norm
>> going forward in our election processes. If that is the case, let scrap
>> election and make a random selection of suitable candidates based on gender
>> diversity and competency.
>>
>> Regards
>> ᐧ
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 8:14 PM Robin Gross <robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:
>>
>>> NCSG Members:
>>>
>>> I want to clarify a few issues in advance regarding the current NCSG
>>> election.
>>>
>>> 1.  We have 4 GNSO Council seats up for election.  The top 3 vote
>>> getters will receive a full two-year term.  The 4th place vote getter will
>>> only be for a one-year term because it is filling a seat vacated mid-term.
>>> This is subject to paragraph 2 below.
>>>
>>> 2.  Regarding the gender diversity rule for the GNSO Council, the NCSG
>>> Charter provides that “in no circumstance should there be fewer than two
>>> members of any gender.”  As Tatiana is presently our only continuing female
>>> member, candidate Stephanie will automatically be elected to the GNSO
>>> Council regardless of how many votes she receives because we are required
>>> to have at least two female Council members under our charter.  So the
>>> gender rule, trumps the number of votes earned in terms of winning a seat.
>>> This means that Stephanie + the top 3 vote getters from the other
>>> candidates will be elected to Council.
>>>
>>> 3.  Our regional diversity rules should not be a factor in this
>>> election, however, because no more than two members would be declared
>>> resident of the same geographic region.
>>>
>>> I hope this can help to make the election process more clear to
>>> everyone.  Thank you.
>>>
>>> All best,
>>> Robin
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Best regards
>>
>> *Taiwo Peter Akinremi*
>> ------ ------ -------  ------ ------ -------  ------ ------ ------- ------
>> ------ -------  ------ ------ ------
>>  IT Manager/Advisory
>> *Phone*; +2348187476292, +2347063830177 *Skype*: akinremi.taiwo
>> *Email:* info at compsoftnet.com.ng *Website:* www.compsoftnet.com.ng
>> ___________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Best regards
>
> *Taiwo Peter Akinremi*
> ------ ------ -------  ------ ------ -------  ------ ------ ------- ------
> ------ -------  ------ ------ ------
>  IT Manager/Advisory
> *Phone*; +2348187476292, +2347063830177 *Skype*: akinremi.taiwo
> *Email:* info at compsoftnet.com.ng *Website:* www.compsoftnet.com.ng
> ___________________________________________
>
>
>

-- 

stay well, kind regards
Dorothy Gordon
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