[ALAC] Review: ALS certification and decertification votes

[Beran Gillen - Yahoo]

I would swing with option a - secret ballot for the reasons Alan stated

Beran 

"There is nothing more difficult to arrange and more dangerous to carry through than initiating change..." Machiavelli 

Sent from my iPhone

> On 5 Oct 2014, at 21:12, h.raiche at internode.on.net wrote:
> 
> I agree with Alan's reasoning and the outcome.  I would favour full
> and open voting, but appreciate that this may be difficult for some. 
> So I am happy to accept either outcome, but think the first option may
> be more acceptable generally.
> 
> Holly 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alan Greenberg" 
> To:"ALAC" 
> Cc:
> Sent:Sat, 4 Oct 2014 21:14:29 -0400
> Subject:[ALAC] Review: ALS certification and decertification votes
> 
> This has been a good set of interactions. We now seem to be down to 
> two options. Everyone agrees that de-certification votes and 
> certification votes where there is a specific RALO recommendation 
> should be standard open votes.
> 
> Where we differ is how to treat votes where the RALO could not 
> develop a specific recommendation.
> 
> a) Some ALAC members feel that to reduce chance of harassment, or to 
> ensure that the ALAC members votes as he or she really believes is 
> the correct choice, the vote should be secret, except that if the 
> decision is challenged or likely to be challenged, At-Large Policy 
> Staff and the ALAC chair have access to the actual votes to enable 
> then to, after the fact, develop a rationale for why the vote went as
> 
> it did (still keeping the actual votes confidential).
> 
> b) Others feel that if a person is selected for the ALAC, they must 
> be willing to vote according to their conscience, make public what 
> that vote is, and deal with any repercussions.
> 
> I have said I can live with either outcome, and I can.
> 
> However, I will share my personal view of this. For my own vote, I am
> 
> solidly on the "b" camp (you will recall that it was my asking why 
> votes were no longer open that started this discussion).
> 
> However, I think that things are not as simple as voting for what I 
> personally would want We are setting rules for the ALAC and must do 
> so to ensure the best outcomes in future certification votes.
> 
> It is clear that there are some ALAC members who might feel 
> uncomfortable with announcing their vote, potentially in opposition 
> to some members of the community Even if there was no one on the 
> current ALAC who felt that way, the tone of the discussion so far 
> implies that such a position is a reasonable expectation for some 
> ALAC members. Given that, there is a reasonable probability that such
> 
> ALAC Members might react by changing their vote to result in the 
> least conflict or confrontation, or they would abstain. That could 
> alter outcomes allowing an ALS to be certified that a majority of 
> voters felt would not be a credit to At-Large.
> 
> Treating these ballots as secret, in my opinion, is the best choice 
> to help ensure that all current and future ALAC members vote with 
> what they believe to be the "right" answer.
> 
> Nothing precludes any ALAC member making their own vote public if
> they choose.
> 
> Alan
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ALAC mailing list
> ALAC at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac
> 
> At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org
> ALAC Working Wiki:
> https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+Advisory+Committee+(ALAC)
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ALAC mailing list
> ALAC at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac
> 
> At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org
> ALAC Working Wiki: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+Advisory+Committee+(ALAC)