FidoNet Zone 2 document NC_ELECT.Z2 V1.0 05 Mar 1995 by Keith Wassell (RC/25) and Jan Vermeulen (RC/28) 0. INTRODUCTION These election rules are an extension to, not a replacement of, rules contained in the current FidoNet Policy. They are to be used in FidoNet Zone 2 for the election of coordinators at net level. In turn, they may be extended, but not replaced, by rules at a lower level; for these to be valid, the International Coordinator's approval is required. 1. CANDIDATES Anybody within the net can stand as a candidate, except persons who only have private entries within the appropriate net segment of the nodelist. No previous experience in a FidoNet coordinator role is necessary, but candidates should ideally have been a member of the FidoNet for a min- imum of 6 months and be conversant with FidoNet procedures and polic- ies. There are no defined system requirements. A CM system is desirable but not compulsory. Candidates must be listed within the FidoNet nodelist and not annot- ated 'hold' or 'down'. Candidates must have a Listed Telephone number. Candidates will advise the returning officer of their intention to stand. A manifesto or statement of intent may be provided, but is not compulsory. 2. RETURNING OFFICER The returning officer shall be appointed by the regional coordinator. The returning officer shall choose somebody to verify the results, and will copy all votes nominations etc to that person. The electorate shall be all members of the network in the nodelist at the date of the announcement of the election and not be annotated Hold or Down. If a hold/down node subsequently returns to normal operation before the start of voting, provided they were in the nodelist segment specified by the returning officer, they will be elegible to vote. The election shall be held upon the basis of "1 Sysop - 1 Vote", re- gardless of the number of node entries a sysop holds within the net. The returning officer will in his announcement of election, define the exact nodelist that will hold the list of elegible sysops to vote, e.g Nodelist.147 The returning officer shall notify all nodes in the net via netmail of the election. Due to the expense of this operation, it is acceptable to do this as routed netmail, although crash/direct netmail is pref- erred. The RO may then carry on all further election business in the networks sysop echo. Nodes who are not FTS-004 compliant should make arrange- ments to log into another system, if they wish to follow the question- ing of the candidates etc. The returning officer will announce the successful candidate, who, after confirmation of the correctness of the poll by the verifier, will then automatically become the new NC. Where possible, returning officers must come from a different network, to help to ensure impartiality. Returning officers must operate a CM system and not be annotated Hold, Down or Pvt. If more than 10% of the nodes in a network object to the choice of re- turning officer, then the RC shall be obliged to select a new return- ing officer. However, all objections must be received within seven days of the announcement of the election. The election timetable shall be restarted at the announcement of the new RO. 3. PERIOD OF OFFICE The period of office for an NC will be a maximum of two years. The outgoing NC may of course stand again for the next period but will be deemed to have resigned (See section 8). The departing NC has no rights in the appointment of his/her succes- sor. 4. TIMETABLE Elections should be held over a six week period. Two weeks shall be allowed for candidates to put themselves forward, two weeks for questioning of candidates, and two weeks for votes to be cast. Questioning of the candidates should ideally be carried out in the network's sysop echo. If a node is not FTS-004 compliant, then they may of course use netmail. 5. VOTING All votes shall be carried out by netmail, sent direct to the return- ing officer, except where technical problems prevent this. The votes should ideally be cast using the following format. ============================================================= To : Returning Officer From : A Voter Subject: Election Vote. I cast my vote in the NCxxx Election for: Candidate Name : Joe Bloggs Password : Abcdefg I DO/DO NOT consent to my vote being made public after the election. ============================================================= If automated counting software is utilised, it shall be capable of accepting answers to both questions. 6. RESULTS The result should ideally be posted in the following form. ============================================================= Candidate : - Joe Bloggs 6 Votes Passwords : - Password1 , Password2 , Password3 , Password4 Candidate : - Fred Smith 4 Votes Passwords : - Password1 , Password2 , Password3 , Password4 ============================================================= If automated counting software is used, it shall release only this in- formation. Results MAY be made public, i.e the names of those who voted for which candidate may be released, but only with the FULL agreement of all who voted. If this is to be done, all voters must be netmailed and their consent obtained. A refusal by any voter MUST be counted as an object- ion. In general, no action shall be taken that can lead to any form of re- crimination against any sysop for either his/her choice of candidate, or their abstention from voting. The result should be posted in at least the following places:- Netmail to all candidates, and the appropriate sysop/*C echoes. If the RO is not FTS-004 compliant, then he/she shall ensure a node that is forwards them to the appropriate conferences. 7. HUNG ELECTIONS If a tie occurs between a number of candidates for first place, then a run off election should be held on a simple majority basis between those candidates. If there were only two candidates standing, then the election will be rerun. 8. LACK OF CANDIDATES When an election becomes due, because the NC in post has completed their two years, he/she will be deemed to have resigned and will have to stand again as a candidate if he/she wishes to serve another term. If there is only one candidate, that person will automatically take the position of NC, unless that person has just been deselected for failure to carry out their duties properly, in which case the 'No Candidates' situation below will exist. Should no candidates be forthcoming, a network will be disbanded and nodes redistributed to adjoining networks, or to the regional segment. [EOT]