Open Stack

Hi,

I previously spend 7 years involved in a group that drove voter
engagement in a large organisation that faced similar issues.

We learnt a few things in that time.

     1. Easy access to information is key.
             1. Don't assume people will read the mailing lists - there
                is a huge amount of activity, and threads about
                candidates does get pushed down fairly quickly
             2. Have a central page with all the candidates, and their
                manifestos / information
             3. Facilitate an easy way to initiate a conversation - a
                'Q&A' section where people can ask questions, and have
                candidate easily reply really drive voter engagements
     2. Clear timelines really help
             1. An email at the opening of nominations with what people
                need to do to be nominated.
             2. Also have in that email the dates for close of
                nominations, start of campaigning (if applicable), and
                date of the vote
             3. Small things help - a calender invite that reminds
                voters the day before the vote ends can really drive up
                votes

On the campaigning - we found that putting too many restrictions on
campaigns can be harmful. Something like what you suggested usually
works - as long as it is not too prescriptive.

You will always have a drop off for 'regional candidates' (eg TC) vs
'local candidates' (eg PTL), as there is people who will vote for the
areas close to their heart (i.e. the project / program that they work on
day to day) - it is an issue all electoral oversight bodies struggle
with.

Just my 2c, would love to talk this out more as the discussion
progresses.

Graham

On Fri, 2014-05-23 at 10:45 -0400, Anita Kuno wrote:
> One of the things that OpenStack does really well is review our process
> for various activities. I don't believe we have had a discussion in the
> past reviewing our electoral process and I think it would be good to
> have this discussion.
> 
> There are two issues that I feel need to be addressed:
> Item One: the health of our voter engagement for the tc election
> Item Two: messaging around campaigning
> others may feel additional issues need some airtime, if you can think of
> other issues affection our election process for ptl and/or tc elections,
> do add your item to the list.
> 
> Item One:
>     the health of our voter engagement for the tc election
> 
> Going by voter turnout, the health of individual programs as reflected
> in the ptl voter turnout statistics is sound (43.5% voter turnout or
> better) however the health of the voter turnout for the tc election
> process could tolerate some scrutiny.
> 
> For the April 2014 tc election the voter turnout was 29.7%. We have had
> a total of three tc elections in the history of OpenStack and our voter
> turnout percentage is dropping.
> First TC Election, March 2013: 33.6% voter turnout
> Second TC Election, October 2013: 30.9% voter turnout
> Third TC Election, April 2014: 29.7% voter turnout
> 
> Now our actual votes cast are increasing, but the size of the electorate
> is increasing faster, with proportionally fewer ATCs voting
> March 2013: 208 votes cast, 619 authorized voters
> October 2013: 342 votes cast, 1106 authorized voters
> April 2014: 448 votes cast, 1510 authorized voters
> 
> I would like for there to be a discussion around voter engagement in the
> tc election.
> 
> Item Two:
>     messaging around campaigning
> 
> Right now we have no messaging around election campaigning and I think
> we should have some.
> 
> Specifically I feel we should state that the TC requires candidates and
> their backers to campaign in the spirit of the OpenStack ideals
> (Openness, Transparency, Commonality, Integration, Quality...)  as
> stated in the TC mission statement[footnote] while refraining from
> sending unsolicited email and also refraining from holding privately
> sponsored campaign events. Campaigning is expected to be done in the
> open with public access to links and content available to all.
> 
> I welcome your participation in this discussion.
> 
> Thank you,
> Anita.
> anteaya
> 
> [footnote] The  Technical Committee ("TC") is tasked with providing the
> technical  leadership for OpenStack as a whole (all official programs,
> as defined  below). It enforces OpenStack ideals (Openness,
> Transparency,  Commonality, Integration, Quality...), decides on issues
> affecting  multiple programs, forms an ultimate appeals board for
> technical  decisions, and generally has oversight over all the OpenStack
> project.
> 
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