I wish to command the tremendous effort done by this working group. However, I have to disagree with some statements made in the document, namely:
Any direct vote of ALSs will without doubt bring into question to what extent that actual members of the ALS are being involved in the process and the decision, or whether the vote is being decided on and cast by a single representative of that ALS.
Given the importance of this process, it is vital that whoever the electorate is that is selected, that there can be a high degree of confidence that they will vote based on the evidence and not based primarily on the origins of the candidates or the languages that they speak.
As an ALS representative, I personally feel that these statements are close to an insult. We are basically questioning the integrity of the ALS representative. Even in the event an ALS chose a representative that is not listening enough to its membership, I would then expect the ALS itself to take corrective measures, not the ALAC. And unless the ALAC should have some undisputed evidence of that the representative is only speaking for him/herself, the benefit of doubt applies.
The Board seat should be selected by the ALAC plus the RALO Chairs. The RALO-appointed ALAC members and the RALO Chairs may be directed by their ALSs if the RALO desires (and in accordance with their RoP). This methodology gives ALSs large control over who is selected, without the complexity of two-level vote weighting and centralized ALS elector verification. The vote should be by secret ballot.
We miss here a tremendous opportunity to motivate ALSes and (clearly identified) individual members of NARALO by not giving them a direct input in the process. As was mentioned by the Bigpulse staff on the conference call, there is no technical issue that would prevent a direct weighted voting. I sympathize with the issues NARALO is facing to identify its individual membership. However, I am not sure that ALSes in other regions are to be victims of that situation. As a compromise, I would suggest the all ALSes outside North America be granted an individual vote. For North America, the RALO would get all the votes for the region. -- Patrick Vande Walle Blog: http://patrick.vande-walle.eu Twitter: http://twitter.vande-walle.eu facebook: http://facebook.vande-walle.eu