Stephane, Since our call, I have had a discussion with some in the RySG that believe our underlying assumptions may not be correct. According to the Bylaws, Section 8 does classify the voting NCAs as "members" of each house. (http://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/bylaws#X-3.8) Section 8(a) says that the Contracted Party House has 7 voting members and the Non-contracted Parties House has 13 voting members. Therefore, if Thomas were elected as the GNSO Council Chair, he would not have to be a non-voting Chair. What that essentially means then is that the sentence in the Operating Procedures that states "Should a Chair be elected from outside of the houses that Chair will be a non-voting Chair" really only applies to the non-voting NCA. All of that being the case, it would appear that yes, Thomas is entitled to vote in the election for Chair and if elected would be allowed to be a voting Chair.....at least according to the operating procedures. Jeffrey J. Neuman Neustar, Inc. / Vice President, Business Affairs From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Stéphane Van Gelder Sent: Monday, October 08, 2012 10:08 AM To: GNSO Council List Subject: [council] Council elections Councillors, I wanted to inform you of a discussion we had on the Leadership call today, about the upcoming Council elections and the NCA situation. I am asking staff to query the general Counsel on the following. It is our (the Leadership team's) understanding that: - Should an NCA be elected Council Chair, that person would serve as a non-voting Chair (see Council op procs). - Should an NCA be running for the Chair election, that person is still eligible to vote until elected Chair (so in effect that person can vote in the Chair election). - The 2012 NomCom has made an assignment for the position of non-voting (or homeless) NCA. This means that, Chair election not withstanding, Lanre remains assigned to the NCPH and Thomas to the CPH. - Given the above, if Thomas is elected Chair, he would remain assigned to the CPH but would become non-voting, which in effect means the CPH looses one vote. So here I am asking the general Counsel whether, if Thomas is elected Chair, the NomCom would not have to reassign Jennifer to the CPH? Staff, please ask JJ to provide an answer asap so that all of us are clear on the above going into our Toronto work weekend, where the Council will be talking to the Chair candidates and should therefore have the requested information. Thanks, Stéphane Van Gelder Directeur Général / General manager INDOM NetNames France ---------------- Registry Relations and Strategy Director NetNames T: +33 (0)1 48 01 83 51 F: +33 (0)1 48 01 83 61