Avri I'm probably ok with your proposal, certainly on letting the Council vote on the open-closed ballot issue; if we decide to close the ballot, the final process may need a little discussion in Council. I will have to think about Alan's suggestion on absentee balloting in light of the actual attendance in Seoul; having just suffered through a week of flu, things don't always occur as planned. I will add a personal view, with an open ballot on group leadership and in a close ballot which I expect this to be; it could possibly change how the ballot comes out. Maybe for the best, but my 25 years serving on public planning/development/land-use commissions is that it is not usually the best. Kristina already mentioned potential personal conflicts as a result of an open ballot which I've seen before. In my case as an NCA, I have little concern that way but likely for some SG members and possibly candidates, it may make for a hard decision. All items I have read over the years and my experience, shows that a percentage of folks will vote differently, especially when selecting leaders, whether the ballot is open or closed due to the external and personal pressures that then exist. Now that said, I would have a very hard time voting to hold closed votes on almost anything other than leadership selection that comes to mind; in fact nothing does at the moment. Take care Terry From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Gomes, Chuck Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 8:08 AM To: Mary Wong Cc: Council GNSO Subject: RE: [council] Council wide Nominations are closed - Part 2 Each House determines a Candidate Strictly from a personal point of view: * I favor an open ballot for accountability and transparency reasons, but I also respect the concerns of individual Councilors. * If just one Councilor requests a secret ballot, I then am fine with a secret ballot with at least one caveat that the votes of each SG's reps be communicated to the SG. * If am fine with Avri's suggestion to poll the Council regarding whether to hold a secret or open ballot. I have raised this issue on the RySG list and am waiting their direction. In the end I will respond to the poll in accordance with that direction and not my personal views. Chuck _____ From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Mary Wong Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 12:18 AM Cc: Council GNSO Subject: Re: [council] Council wide Nominations are closed - Part 2 Each House determines a Candidate Hi On Oct 15, 2009, at 3:56 PM, Avri Doria wrote:
Do other council members believe this needs to be a secret ballot?
I think that at a time when there seems to be a lot of mistrust amongst the ICANN community and. more importantly, when there are many new entrants/participants and Councillors, it's important to have complete transparency in the GNSO processes. As such, I don't support the idea of a secret ballot in this case. Cheers Mary Mary W S Wong Professor of Law & Chair, IP Programs Franklin Pierce Law Center Two White Street Concord, NH 03301 USA Email: mwong@piercelaw.edu Phone: 1-603-513-5143 Webpage: http://www.piercelaw.edu/marywong/index.php Selected writings available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=437584