[EC-NCSG] Letter to Appellents

[Tapani Tarvainen]

Dear Robin,

I have no objections to your changes. The "withdrawn" was just
leftover from your original version I used when I started writing
mine, and your other edit is an obvious consistency fix.

I would like to suggest another such fix. As it's theoretically
possible that several seats go unfilled, we should use plural
in the paragraph dealing with that possibility, like this:

"In the unlikely event that any seats are left unfilled after the
election, the EC will follow the procedures described in the charter
to fill such seats."

I also dropped "GNSO" as an unfilled Chair seat would also obviously
be filled as per the charter.

(This doesn't really matter and I don't think it's important, but at
this point fixing it doesn't take take any extra time so why not.)

So here's my (hopefully really final) proposal:

"Dear Appellants:

This email is in response to the appeal filed by the group of 21
members of the Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG) on 23 August
2016 regarding the decision of the NCSG Executive Committee (EC) to
continue with the ongoing annual election using the existing ballots.

In fact the EC did not make such a decision: it was an unilateral act
of the Chair, which the EC did not approve and decided to override in
its emergency meeting on August 24.  The Chair, by signing this letter,
accepts his responsibility and the EC's chastisement of his hasty
action.

In its meeting the EC discussed the the appeal and considered possible
options in response.  In that meeting, the EC decided to propose a
compromise solution to the appellants in lieu of suspending the
ongoing election as requested.

Specifically, the EC decided to continue with the ongoing annual
election as originally planned, using the existing ballots already
sent to members, but with the understanding that voting simultaneously
for "None of the Above" and one or two candidates for council is
valid, and that every candidate on the ballot faces possible
rejection, which means that those candidates who receive less votes
than "None of the Above" (NOTA) on the ballot shall be deemed not
elected in the election.

We understand that this compromise is not perfect, however we believe
it is a solution which will allow us to go forward with the existing
election as planned and still satisfy concerns about representation
and confusion on the ballot.

In the unlikely event that any seats are left unfilled after the
election, the EC will follow the procedures described in the charter
to fill such seats.

We regret the confusion caused and will endeavour to fix any remaining
concerns before the ballot is sent in next year's annual election.

Please indicate at your earliest convenience if this compromise
proposal is acceptable to you and that your appeal is accordingly
resolved. Thank you.

Signed,
Executive Committee of the Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group"

--
Tapani Tarvainen