Thank you, Julie. RA Ron Andruff www.lifedotsport.com  -------- Original message -------- From: Julie Hedlund <julie.hedlund@icann.org> Date: 10/31/2013 14:47 (GMT-05:00) To: gnso-improvem-impl-sc@icann.org Subject: [gnso-improvem-impl-sc] Background on New Issues: Email Voting and Procedural Waivers Dear SCI members, In our last meeting on 08 October Ron Andruff suggested it would be helpful to frame the two new issues the GNSO Council has asked the SCI to study  — email voting and procedural waivers --  in the format of the questions listed in the charter.  In addition, for future requests as Mikey O'Conner suggested staff will create an online form that requesters can complete when they have issues to bring to the SCI.  The format in the charter is: Which group do you represent? (E.g. Council, WG.) To which rules or processes do you refer? Please outline the problems What specific changes do you propose to address the identified problems? Do you have any additional suggestion for making the rules/processes easier to administer? In particular, the GNSO Council requested that the SCI should take up these two new issues in its Wrap Up meeting in Durban on 17 July.   Accordingly, I've reviewed the transcript from that meeting and pulled out the relevant information from the brief discussion of these topics.  I've put that information into the form of the questions from the charter.  Please see the information below and also on the wiki at: https://community.icann.org/display/gnsosci/16+November+2013.  These issues are on the agenda for the SCI's next meeting, which will be held face-to-face in Buenos Aires on Saturday, 16 November from 0700-0845 local time.  The GNSO Secretariat will send out a notice and reminders for the meeting. Best Regards, Julie  Julie Hedlund, Policy Director Email voting: Which group do you represent? GNSO Council To which rules or processes do you refer? Voting Please outline the problems: The Council does not have a mechanism to conduct votes outside of a meeting. What specific changes do you propose to address the identified problems?  The SCI should consider whether and how the Council could vote outside of a meeting and under what circumstances.  Quote from Jonathan Robinson in the Council transcript at the Wrap Up Meeting in Durban on 18 July 2013: "So I wanted - an issue I wanted us to consider maybe giving to the SCI and then to the group or to a committee to look at is I’d like to rethink about whether potentially voting by email or something like that is a possibility? I know we’ve looked at it on and off over the years.…And if that would help speed things along it would be great to just look at that issue in just maybe we can’t do it first time around obviously but for future..."  He raised this issue because the Council was in the process of scheduling a special meeting in August to conduct a vote. Do you have any additional suggestion for making the rules/processes easier to administer? Voting by email could in some circumstances enable the Council to avoid having to schedule a special meeting for a vote that has to occur quickly. Waivers and/or Exceptions to the GNSO Council Operating Procedures Which group do you represent? GNSO Council To which rules or processes do you refer? Submitting a motion and possibly other procedures Please outline the problems: The Council does not have a mechanism to waive or invoke an exception to and of its operating procedures.  An example is whether the deadline for submitting motions could be waived in certain circumstances.  Quote from Jonathan Robinson in the transcript at the Wrap Up Meeting in Durban on 18 July 2013: "And essentially I wasn’t empowered as chair by our rulebook to allow that motion to be put on the table even if technically although we have done it by precedent and prior practice, even if no one objected from the council I didn’t really - there isn’t really device in the rulebook to allow that to take place. So I personally I think that’s an area we should look at is the - when and under what circumstances - formal council procedure can be bypassed in the event that there is no objection from the council?" What specific changes do you propose to address the identified problems?  The SCI should consider whether and how the Council could vote outside of a meeting and under what circumstances. Do you have any additional suggestion for making the rules/processes easier to administer? A waiver mechanism could allow the Council to consider a motion or document after the deadline of notice/submission to the Council has passed.