Subject: Sub Team B Report to the SCI on Chair/Vice Chair Elections
From: Julie Hedlund <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2016 11:31:48 -0500

Dear SCI members,

On behalf of Sub Team B —  Anne Aikman-Scalese,  Sara Bockey, Angie Graves,  Lawrence Olawale-Roberts, and Wolf-Ulrich Knoben — I hereby transmit below a Report to the SCI for discussion at the next SCI meeting in Marrakech on Saturday, 05 March at 0800-0900 UTC/Casablanca.  For remote access see: https://meetings.icann.org/en/marrakech55/schedule/sat-gnso-sci.  Note that the virtual meeting room is different from our usual Adobe Connect room.

For your reference attached is the original review request and the election timeline.

Kind regards,
Julie

Julie Hedlund, Policy Director

Sub Team B Report to the SCI on Chair/Vice Chair Elections

Recommendations:

ISSUE 1: Must the GNSO Chair be a continuing (not new/incoming) Councilor? Should new/incoming Councilors be eligible to stand for election?

See Section 2.2(b), which provides that a candidate for GNSO Chair “does not need to be a member of a house, but must be a member of the GNSO Council.” With the ICANN Bylaws prescribing that a Council member’s term begins and ends at the conclusion of an ICANN annual general meeting, Section 2.2(b) as phrased would seem to limit candidates for the Chair to only incumbent, continuing Council members.

AGREED: "A candidate for GNSO Council Chair does not need to be a member of a house, but must be a [continuing or incoming] member of the GNSO Council."  (Change to the GNSO Operating Procedures in brackets.)

ACTION: Update the GNSO Operating Procedures accordingly.

ISSUE 2: Is there a gap to be addressed when the Vice Chairs' terms end at the same time as that of the Chair, and no Chair is conclusively elected by that time? 

See Section 2.2(f): For the Vice-Chairs to “serve as interim Chairs until a successful election can be held” if a new Chair is not elected by the conclusion of the ICANN annual general meeting at which her term ends. However, the Procedures are silent as to what happens when one or both Vice-Chairs’ terms on the Council (which are set in the Bylaws) also end at that particular ICANN annual general meeting.  The Bylaws state, "the regular term of each GNSO Council member shall begin at the conclusion of an ICANN annual meeting and shall end at the conclusion of the second ICANN annual meeting thereafter…Each GNSO Council member shall hold office during his or her regular term and until a successor has been selected and qualified or until that member resigns or is removed in accordance with these Bylaw.”  

AGREED:

Suggested new language for the GNSO Operating Procedures: “In the case where both Vice-Chairs’ terms on the Council end at the same time as the Chair, and no Chair is conclusively elected, this procedure would apply: Each House should designate a new or continuing councilor, including the voting and non-voting NCAs, to temporarily fill the role of Vice Chair on an interim basis, not as an elected Vice Chair.  These individuals will co-chair the Chair election and once the election is completed their service in those roles would end. Candidates for Chair would not be eligible to serve as designated Interim Vice Chairs, to avoid potential conflicts of interest."

ACTION: Discuss with the SCI whether the procedure would apply only when both Vice-Chairs’ terms end, or to include when only one Vice-Chair's term ends.  Update the GNSO Operating Procedures accordingly.

ISSUE 3: What should be the method for posting election results?  

See Section 2.2(g), which calls for the Council to “inform the Board and the Community appropriately and post the election results on the GNSO website within 2 business days following each election and runoff ballot, whether successful or unsuccessful” without elaborating on what the appropriate mechanism (in addition to posting on the GNSO website) might be.

AGREED: No need to make a change to the procedures if they are followed.  However, there be a requirement for staff to follow up on every election (successful or not) with a note to the full Council enclosing the result.

ACTION: Discuss in SCI whether the staff notification satisfies "publishing”.

ISSUE 4: Should the timetable (or a modality for setting one) for the GNSO chair election be specified in the Operating Procedures?

See Section 2.2:  This section does not set out a timetable for the GNSO Chair election or prescribe a modality for setting that timetable for nominations and election in each cycle.

AGREED: Create a timeline that includes the call for chair candidate nominations, the nominations of Council members, and time for SG/C/NCA meetings with candidates.

ACTION: Review the attached timeline graphic.