[aur-general] [PATCH] tu-bylaws: Amend Standard Voting Procedure

[Xyne]

Kaiting Chen wrote:

> > Wow. I didn't think it was that bad.
> >
> 
> The wording could use some work. The biggest question I've been getting is
> "how long is the discussion period between the first and second vote if the
> quorum fails?". The answer is of course zero, but apparently this is very
> unorthodox.
> 
> Also it seems the people are confused by the difference between 'not
> accepted' and 'rejected', which to my understanding there is none.
> --Kaiting.


I've rewritten that section with some changes (see below). I've tried to keep
the wording unambiguous and relatively simple. Note the following functional
changes:

* If 50% or more of all active TUs vote NO then the vote is rejected even in
  the absence of quorum. This is logically coherent with accepting the vote
  when more than 50% vote YES in the absence of quorum.

* Default durations for various items such as discussion periods and voting
  periods.


I'm not sure about the wording of "... shall normally be ... but may be
determined by the nature of the proposal as described elsewhere in the bylaws."
and similar passages. The intention is to enable other sections of the bylaws
and nothing else to supersede the defaults. For example the TU removal procedure
allows for shorter discussion and voting periods. The section thus provides the
standard template for voting that can be tweaked by other sections as
necessary. The tricky bit is wording it in such a way that the person making
the proposal can't arbitrarily change them.




SVP SECTION:

Standard Voting Procedure (SVP) describes the formal procedure used by TUs to
accept or reject proposals regarding TU affairs.

SVP begins with a proposal, for example the addition of a TU or an amendment to
the bylaws. The proposal should be clear and concise and it must be posted on
the aur-general mailing list (aur-general).

The discussion period begins when the proposal is posted on aur-general. The
duration of the discussion period shall normally be 5 days but may be
determined by the nature of the proposal as described elsewhere in the bylaws.
All discussion shall take place on aur-general. During the discussion period,
votes shall not be cast.

The voting period begins when the discussion period ends. The duration of the
voting period shall normally be 7 days but may be determined by the nature of
the proposal as described elsewhere in the bylaws. During the voting period,
TUs may vote YES, NO or ABSTAIN. Votes shall be cast under the Trusted User
section of the AUR homepage. At the end of the voting period, all votes shall
be tallied.

In the context of SVP, TUs are considered active if they are marked as active
when the voting period ends.

Quorum shall normally be 66% of all active TUs, with participation measured by
the sum of YES, NO and ABSTAIN votes, but may be determined by the nature of the
proposal as described elsewhere in the bylaws.

The proposal is normally accepted if EITHER the number of YES votes is greater
than half the number of active TUs OR quorum has been established and the
number of YES votes is greater than the number of NO votes but these conditions
may be superseded by other sections of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal.

The proposal is normally rejected if EITHER more than half of all active TUs
have voted NO OR quorum was established and the number of NO votes is greater
than or equal to the number of YES votes but these conditions may be superseded
by other sections of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal.

A rejected proposal may not be presented again before a waiting period has
passed. The duration of the waiting period shall normally be 3 months but may
be determined by the nature of the proposal as described elsewhere in the
bylaws. The waiting period begins at the end of the voting period.

If quorum is not established by the end of the voting period then the proposal
is neither accepted nor rejected. A second SVP shall begin to establish the
status of the proposal. If the proposal is not accepted at the end of the
second SVP then it shall be rejected.