[LAC-Discuss] Elections Process in LACRALO

Tue Sep 30 20:47:46 EDT 2008

Dear Erick:

The Secretariat is inclined to accept the recommendation of staff in this
matter.  Please say unequivocally whether you are requesting a vote as
outlined in LACRALO Rule 18.1.

Assuming you answer yes, the Secretariat request that the mechanisms for an
electronic vote be engaged within 48 hours of your confirmation and the
voting period shall be seven days duration after expiry of that 48-hour
setup time.

Version Espanol:

Estimado Erick: 
La Secretaría está dispuesta a aceptar la recomendación del personal en este
asunto. Por favor, decir de manera inequívoca si usted está solicitando una
votación como se indica en el Artículo 18.1 LacRALO. 

Suponiendo que responder afirmativamente, la Secretaría solicitud de que los
mecanismos para una votación electrónica se dedican dentro de las 48 horas
de su confirmación y el período de votación será de siete días de duración
después de la expiración de ese 48-horas tiempo de instalación.

Kind regards,

Carlton

From: At-Large Staff [mailto:staff at atlarge.icann.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 01:31 AM
To: Carlton Samuels
Cc: carlos aguirre; José Ovidio Salgueiro A.; Atlarge Staff;
ALAC-excom at atlarge-lists.icann.org; Vanda Scartezini UOL
Subject: Elections Process in LACRALO

Dear Carlton:
cc: ALAC Representatives in the LAC Region, ALAC Executive Committee

As you are aware, the nominations process in LACRALO has resulted in a
single candidate who has been nominated, that being the incumbent, Carlos
Aguirre.

Since one ALS has requested that a vote be held on that single candidate, I
began a research today to review the various instruments related to LACRALO
– MoU with ICANN, Rules of Procedure, and Operating Principles – to
determine what if any provision of these requires a vote, irrespective of
the number of candidatures, or, if no vote is obligated, if the Rules of
Procedure allowed any ALS representative to request a vote.

There are no related provisions in the MoU or the Operating Principles.
However, there are with respect to the Rules of Procedure.

Rule 18.1 allows any Member of LACRALO to invoke rules from the UNGA Rules
of Procedure, with a few exceptions. 

Rule 127 of the UNGA Rules provides that:

(a) The General Assembly shall normally vote by show of hands or by
standing, but any representative may request a roll-call. The roll-call
shall be taken in the English alphabetical order of the names of the
members, beginning with the member whose name is drawn by lot by the:
President. The name of each member shall be called in any roll-call, and one
of its representatives shall reply “yes”, “no” or “abstention”. The result
of the voting shall be inserted in the record in the English alphabetical
order of the names of the members. 

(b) When the General Assembly votes by mechanical means, a non-recorded vote
shall replace a vote by show of hands or by standing and a recorded vote
shall replace a roll-call vote. Any representative may request a recorded
vote. In the case of a recorded vote, the General Assembly shall, unless a
representative requests otherwise, dispense with the procedure of calling
out the names of the members; nevertheless, the result of the voting shall
be inserted in the record in the same manner as that of a roll-call vote. 

Version Espanol:

a) De ordinario, las votaciones de la Asamblea General se harán levantando
la mano o poniéndose de pie, pero cualquier representante podrá pedir
votación nominal. La votación nominal se efectuará siguiendo el orden
alfabético inglés de los nombres de los miembros, comenzando por el miembro
cuyo nombre sea sacado a suerte por el Presidente. En las votaciones
nominales, se anunciará el nombre de cada uno de los miembros y uno de sus
representantes contestará “sí”, “no” o “abstención”. El resultado de la
votación se consignará en el acta siguiendo el orden alfabético inglés de
los nombres de los miembros.

b) Cuando la Asamblea General efectúe votaciones haciendo uso del sistema
mecánico, la votación no registrada sustituirá a la que se hace levantando
la mano o poniéndose de pie y la votación registrada sustituirá a la
votación nominal. Cualquier representante podrá pedir votación registrada.
En las votaciones registradas, la Asamblea General prescindirá del
procedimiento de anunciar los nombres de los miembros, salvo que un
representante lo pida; no obstante, el resultado de la votación se
consignará en el acta de la misma manera que en las votaciones nominales.

In the view of the Staff, it would be a reasonable interpretation of
Alfa-Redi’s email that the Member wishes to invoke this Rule. However,
clearly the Staff cannot oblige the LACRALO Secretariat to interpret the
email in this way. 

Further, since we are operating virtually, were a vote to be called, it
would be held as provided in Rule 20, which modified the operation of  Rule
12.4 of the LACRALO Ordinary Rules of Procedure, and is as follows:

20: When a Virtual Meeting of the Assembly is held, the following Rules
shall replace the original: 

[...]

12.4 All Voting shall be conducted electronically. The Chair shall declare
the length of time during which votes shall be cast, and the date and time
of the closing of the vote. The Secretariat shall ensure that the results of
the vote, including the votes cast and by which voter, are available to all
representatives. 

Version Espanol:

20 Cuando se celebre una Reunión Virtual de la Asamblea, las siguientes
reglas sustituirán a los originales: 

[...]

12.4 Todas las votaciones se realizan electrónicamente. El Presidente
declarará el tiempo durante el cual se deberán emitir los votos, así como la
fecha y la hora en que finalizará la votación. El Secretario se encargará de
que los resultados de la votación - incluyendo los votos y de quién es el
voto - estén a disposición de todos los representantes. 

The primacy of the LACRALO Ordinary Rules in the case of any conflict with
the UNGA Rules is as provided in Rule 18.4 of the LACRALO Ordinary Rules,
which state:

Where the UNGA Rules of Procedure are invoked through the provisions of Rule
18.1 or 18.2, should a conflict arise between the rule or rules invoked and
these rules, these Rules shall take precedence, except where the combination
of these Rules and those invoked would result in an impractical or
unworkable process in the judgment of the Chair. 

Version Espanol:

Si al recurrir al Reglamento de Procedimientos de la UNGA por medio de la
Regla 18.1 o 18.2, surgiese un conflicto entre las reglas a las que se
recurre y este Reglamento, este Reglamento prevalecerá, excepto cuando la
combinación de este Reglamento y las reglas a las que se recurre den como
resultado un proceso inoperante y poco práctico a juicio del Presidente. 

Taking all this into account, the Staff of ICANN recommends as follows:

1) That the Secretariat ask Erick if he is requesting a vote as provided in
UNGA Rule 127 as provided under the LACRALO Ordinary Rules of Procedure in
Rule 18.1 as a point of order.  We further suggest that the background
provided in this email is given to Erick so that he can evaluate whether or
not the outcome provided by the invocation of these Rules is what his
organisation intends. 

If the answer is ‘Yes’, the we would further suggest that:

2) The Secretariat shall announce that an electronic vote will take place as
soon as it is possible for the Staff to set the vote up, announce the time
and date when voting shall be open, and distribute the list of authorised
voters at the same time in case there are any amendments which members of
LACRALO have forgotten to notify the Secretariat of.  We would suggest  the
voting period shall be 7 days, commencing on the date and the time at which
the vote is opened. 

It may be useful to note that as provided in the UNGA Rules of Procedure, as
well as good practice and custom, any discussion of the vote or the
candidates is out of order from the moment that the voting begins. The only
exceptions is for points of order to be raised to understand the voting
procedures. Voting is generally accepted as beginning from the moment a vote
is called, not the moment that voting actually begins, and only completes at
the point at which a vote has closed. Further, comments about a vote after a
vote is concluded are generally restricted to brief comments to explain why
a given member voted in one way or another.

Finally, Carlos, I would imagine that you (and probably others) may prefer
the more logical outcome of being automatically returned for a second term,
however, I hope that you will agree that it is better for everyone to feel
that the Rules of Procedure are followed completely, to avoid any question
as to the legitimacy of your election.

The UNGA Rules, in English and Spanish, may be found at:
https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?rules_of_procedure
The LACRALO Rules, in English and Spanish, may be found at:
https://st.icann.org/lacralo/index.cgi?ralo_organising_documents

We are at the service of all of you in these regards.
-- 
Regards,

Nick Ashton-Hart, Matthias Langenegger, Frederic Teboul
ICANN At-Large Staff
email: staff at atlarge.icann.org