On 5/15/07, Nick Ashton-Hart <nick.ashton-hart@icann.org> wrote:

There is no recognised voting system in the international world which
I am aware of which counts abstentions as votes. This is also true in
the corporate world.

As background, I can make these statements not only based upon 20
years of working with international organisations and participating in
treaty making conferences, but also because I have recently read the
authoritative work on rules of procedure of international conferences
and standing committees of international organisations, and gone
through the UNGA rules, the UN Model Rules, and the ECOSOC rules in
order to come up with draft rules of procedure for At-Large meetings.

It would be unwise to go against all established precendents and count
abstentions as votes. If you were to do that, it would be very easy to
argue that the vote counting method was not valid.

This is also logical - if you think about it, counting abstentions as
votes means that you are basically counting an abstention as a 'no'
vote. If people meant to say 'No', they would have voted that way.
Indeed, a number of voters in this election have specifically said
that they were abstaining because they didn't have time to properly
analyse the situation and didn't feel comfortable voting either way.
This sensible approach should not be used to turn their vote into a
'no' vote.

On 15/05/07, Wendy Seltzer <wendy@seltzer.com> wrote:
> Mr. Robert Guerra wrote:
> > Wendy:
> >
> > I believe Luc posted a message with the results of the OP vote. let
> > me find it..
> >
> >
> >> From: "Luc Faubert" <LFaubert@conceptum.ca>
> >> Date: May 2, 2007 2:49:49 AM EDT (CA)
> >> To: "Bret Fausett" <bfausett@internet.law.pro>, "All Accredited At
> >> Large Structures ((ALS)) in the North  AmericanRegion" <na-
> >> als@atlarge-lists.icann.org>
> >> Cc: NA Discuss <na-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org >
> >> Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] [NA-ALS] Voting Procedural Correction
> >>
> >> Here's a sheet with the current results for the vote on the OP.
> >>
> >> SUMMARY
> >> Yes: 14
> >> No: 5
> >> Abstentions: 3
> >> Didn't vote: 2
> >
> > Not sure how to treat the abstentons & non voters. So, i'll assume i
> > can just add the yea's and nea's..Total # of votes -19 (14+5).  Doing
> > the math - Votes in favor = 73 %, opposed 26%.
>
> I'd count abstentions in the total, we didn't reach 70% of the total,
> and thus fail.
>
> If we can't get 70% for the OP, they shouldn't be Operative.
>
> --Wendy
>
> >
> > Our criteria for approving by rough consensus was set at 70%. as such
> > we - seem to have adopted the OP by rough consensus.
> >
> >
> > regards,
> >
> > Robert
> > ---
> > Robert Guerra < rguerra@privaterra.org>
> > Managing Director, Privaterra
> > Tel +1 416 893 0377
> >
> >
> >
> > On 15-May-07, at 9:10 AM, Wendy Seltzer wrote:
> >
> >> Robert Guerra wrote:
> >>> I thought it would be a good idea to post a copy of the Formation
> >>> Schedule found on our page on icannwiki.
> >>>
> >>> are we on track, on schedule? Two key questions  - was the MoU
> >>> adopted by rough consensus, and if so has it been received by icann
> >>> legal for review?
> >> As far as I know, no.  I never even saw the results of the vote on the
> >> Operating Principles. Were those adopted?
> >>
> >> But I don't think that deliberate speed is a problem.
> >>
> >> --Wendy
> >>
> >>> regards
> >>>
> >>> Robert
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> http://www.icannwiki.org/The_North_American_Regional_At-
> >>> Large_Organization
> >>>
> >>> [snipped]
> >>>
> >>>   Formation Schedule
> >>>
> >>> 2007.04.20: Certified ALSes and individual users name their 2 voting
> >>> representatives forming the General Assembly (must be entered at
> >>> NARALO Contacts)
> >>> 2007.04.27: Members approve final version of NARALO Operating
> >>> Principles (Draft)
> >>> 2007.05.04: Members vote for Chair and Secretariat of NARALO
> >>> 2007.05.11: Members approve final version of Memorandum of
> >>> Understanding between NARALO and ICANN (Draft)
> >>> 2007.05.14: MOU is sent to ICANN legal for approval
> >>> 2007.05.14: The Chair opens the 30-day period for submission of
> >>> Statements of Interest for the election of our 2 ALAC representatives
> >>> 2007.05.25: ICANN legal approves MOU
> >>> 2007.05.28: ICANN opens 21-day public comment period for NARALO MOU
> >>> 2007.06.14: The Chair closes the 30-day period for submission of
> >>> Statements of Interest for the election of our 2 ALAC representatives
> >>> 2007.06.18: ICANN closes 21-day public comment period for NARALO MOU
> >>> 2007.06.21: Members select 2 NARALO ALAC representatives
> >>> 2007.06.25: ICANN and ALSes sign the MOU and seating of ALAC
> >>> representatives in San Juan, Puerto Rico ICANN meeting
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> NA-Discuss mailing list
> >>> NA-Discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org
> >>> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge-
> >>> lists.icann.org
> >>> ---
> >>> Draft MoU with ICANN:
> >>> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU
> >>>
> >>> Draft Operating Principles:
> >>> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP
> >>>
> >>> Draft Code of Conduct:
> >>> http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Wendy Seltzer -- wendy@seltzer.org
> >> phone: +1.617.418.3456 / +44 (0)1865 287203 // cell: 07785 550361
> >> Visiting Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute
> >> Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
> >> http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html
> >> http://www.chillingeffects.org/
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > NA-Discuss mailing list
> > NA-Discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org
> > http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge-lists.icann.org
> > ---
> > Draft MoU with ICANN:
> > http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU
> >
> > Draft Operating Principles:
> > http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP
> >
> > Draft Code of Conduct:
> > http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Wendy Seltzer -- wendy@seltzer.org
> phone: +1.617.418.3456 / +44 (0)1865 287203 // cell: 07785 550361
> Visiting Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute
> Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
> http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html
> http://www.chillingeffects.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
> NA-Discuss mailing list
> NA-Discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org
> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge-lists.icann.org
> ---
> Draft MoU with ICANN:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU
>
> Draft Operating Principles:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP
>
> Draft Code of Conduct:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct
>

--
--
Regards,

Nick Ashton-Hart
PO Box 32160
London N4 2XY
United Kingdom
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Draft MoU with ICANN:
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Draft Operating Principles:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP

Draft Code of Conduct:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct