Fedora Election Management Administration

Fedora Election Management and Administration group (DRAFT)
''[This document was drafted by Larry Cafiero, to whom the words "I," "my," and "me" refer, should they appear. It is a draft that I would hope would be improved upon by interested parties who wish to bring the Fedora Project's high standards in producing the distro into its housekeeping vis-a-vis the election process.]''

The following is a proposal for a body within the Fedora Project called Fedora Election Management and Administration, or FEMA -- the acronym is intentional, since the need for such oversight results from the "emergency management" stemming from the poorly handled elections of November 2010 -- to establish a group of people to serve as election administration, guidance and support for the regularly scheduled elections in the Fedora Project.

The terms "administration," "guidance" and "support" can be defined as, though definitions may not be limited to, the following:


 * Administration: Scheduling elections as required by the Fedora Project; notifying the Fedora Project community of upcoming elections in multiple instances in a timely manner; scheduling town hall meetings for the election cycle; counting votes of each election; (more here if necessary)


 * Guidance: Establishing set rules and regulations with regard to elections and enforcing them; provide information on election procedures on a timely basis for each election; answer questions about election procedures; (more here if necessary)


 * Support: Establish, maintain and update wiki for elections including, but not limited to, the election pages, questionnaires for candidates in each race and election results; provide moderators and channel operators for town hall meetings; establish a ballot and provide staffing to count ballots.

Date of establishment
FEMA should be put into place for the election cycle immediately following this one, ideally with establishment of FEMA following the conclusion of voting in the current election.

FEMA organizational structure
Like the rest of this proposal, this part is open for discussion. Following the guidance for Special Interest Groups (SIGs), I see the organizational makeup and structure is as follows:


 * Decision making: Five members, to make an odd number for vote purposes making up of two administrators and one representative each from the Fedora Board, the Fedora Ambassadors Steering Committee (FAmSCo) and the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo). The two administrators could be appointed or elected, though the latter could be problematic. The decision-making roles can be rotated on a per-election or an annual basis.


 * Support staff: Anyone who wishes to be a part of the group as a volunteer, though those who are in decision-making roles above also can, and are encouraged to, do support work as well.

FEMA authority
FEMA will have the following authority:


 * The authority to announce and establish elections on behalf of the Fedora Project including, but not limited to, announcements at a minimum of 90-, 60- and 30-day intervals, with announcements containing relevant information in order to hold elections (for example, candidate filing deadlines, where to apply, establishing a ballot for voting, etc.); schedule and staff town hall meetings; count votes upon the close of elections.


 * The authority to enforce election rules and regulations including, but not limited to, upholding candidate filing deadlines and other eligibility procedures.


 * The authority to certify election results.