Wikimedia Foundation elections/2025/FAQ
General questions
[edit]What is the Board of Trustees?
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's operations. The Board of Trustees is made up of community-and-affiliate selected trustees, appointed trustees, and a community founder trustee. Each trustee serves a three year term. The Wikimedia community can take part in selecting community- and affiliate-selected trustees.
Who are the trustees on the Board?
The trustees are people from all over the world with a broad spectrum of experiences. Find out more about who is currently on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.
What voting system did the Election Committee decide on?
The Elections Committee chose the Single Transferable Vote method. This voting system allows voters to rank candidates instead of just voting for one candidate. Review an example of the voting mechanism on Meta-wiki.
What is the Elections Committee and why do they decide on the voting method?
The Elections Committee oversees community elections to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. A standing Elections Committee was first instituted in July 2016, but its ad hoc predecessors have been around since the first Board election in 2004. The committee consists of volunteers from the community.
What platform will be used to run the vote?
As with all Board of Trustees elections since 2009, this election will use the SecurePoll platform.
I love governance! How can I get more involved in the Board elections?
That’s great! The more community members who are involved in the election, the better the process is. Community members can become a candidate or participate as an Election Volunteer.
Election Volunteers bridge the gap between the Elections Committee, the Wikimedia Foundation team supporting the Board elections, and the wider community. They enable community members to participate in elections and contribute to shaping the movement.
FAQ for candidates
[edit]How many seats are open during this cycle?
There are two (2) community- and-affiliate-selected seats open for the 2025 Board selection process.
Why must I be fluent in English?
All Board business is conducted in English and Trustees must be fluent in both spoken and written English. Due to privacy and confidentiality reasons, the Foundation cannot support translation for written materials or meetings. The Foundation will, however, help support Trustees who would like to improve aspects of their English fluency, like their English pronunciation.
Why have the minimum qualifications changed?
Candidates must meet minimum qualifications to serve on the Board of Trustees. These minimum criteria were updated in 2024 by the Wikimedia Foundation Board Selection Working Group with input from the Elections Committee. Previous experience serving on a collective decision-making body, especially Boards or committees and significant experience in Wikimedia (or equivalent) movement building and organizing – are meant to identify candidates who would have the relevant experiences to succeed as a Board member. Applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications, shown through the answers in their application, will be removed and disqualified.
The Elections Committee will use the following rubric as guidance for applicants meeting minimum qualifications.
What does “member of the Wikimedia workforce” mean?
Basically, this applies to staff, some contractors, or vendors. Anyone who is currently or was engaged by the Wikimedia Foundation to provide services for monetary compensation at 20 or more hours/week after July 1, 2024 is considered ineligible to run in this year's election as part of a mandatory 12-month cooling-off period.
As in previous selection cycles, anyone selected and appointed to the Board of Trustees, must resign from any other board, governance, or paid engagement with the Wikimedia Foundation, chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups within two weeks of the appointment.
Trustees are also ineligible to provide paid services to the Wikimedia Foundation for at least 12 months after their term has ended.
If you have questions, please email the Elections Committee for more information.
What does ‘real name’ mean? And why must I disclose this?
‘Real name’ refers to your legal name. If you are selected and appointed to the Board of Trustees, your legal name will be used to do a background and media check. Once on the Board, your legal name will be used for required external reporting documents, such as the Form 990, that are required by law, as a non-profit organization in the US.
What happens during the background check and media check?
For the background check, the Foundation works with a vendor who collects information from candidates (including a copy of their ID) and checks it against various databases of criminal, legal, and financial records. The background check is run by the Foundation’s People department, who flags any potential concerns to the Board officers. The background check process is similar to the one used when hiring Foundation staff.
For the media check, the Foundation works with a vendor who searches for discussion of the candidate in the media as well as public statements made by the candidate. The background check is run by the Foundation’s People department, who provides a summary and flags any potential concerns to the Board officers.
You can learn more here.
What are examples of proof of identity? When is the proof required and what happens with that proof after my candidacy?
A proof of identity can be any official form of identification, including your identification card and your passport. When you declare your candidacy, you will be asked to send this proof of identity to secure-info@wikimedia.org to confirm your identity. Failure to submit your proof of identity by the stated deadline will result in ineligibility as a candidate. And once the selection process is completed, your proof of identity will be deleted.
Why is there a shortlisting process?
Community review of past selection processes have noted that it becomes impossible for most voters to comfortably review the materials of each candidate if the number of candidates is too great. These comments were received during the 2021 Board selection process when there were 19 candidates for 2 seats. For the 2025 selection process, the shortlisting process would only be activated if there are more than 10 candidates. The threshold for the number of candidates is based on the number of open seats, which will be 2 in this year. The shortlisting process, if needed, will produce a list of 6 final candidates.
Why are affiliates doing the shortlisting?
Each affiliate has two designated representatives to organize participation in movement-related processes. Shortlisting candidates - and thoroughly reviewing the candidate materials - takes a lot of time and effort, and affiliates have positively participated in this process in the past. It is anticipated that affiliate representatives will involve and coordinate with other community members in evaluating candidates, leading to an inclusive process.
How are the affiliate representatives expected to make their decision for the shortlisting?
The affiliate representatives conducting the shortlisting are expected to carefully review each candidate in consideration of the requirements and desired criteria for Board of Trustee candidates as outlined by the Board. They should select only as many candidates as meet the expectations for becoming a Wikimedia Foundation trustee, up to a maximum of 6 candidates. If they find more than 6 candidates who meet the expectations, they should select the 6 candidates with the best fit.
Who will be enforcing campaigning guidelines?
The Elections Committee is responsible for enforcing the campaigning guidelines for candidates.
Why is there pre-onboarding for candidates?
Pre-onboarding serves two goals: (1) to help candidates assess if the role is what they expected and if they are a good fit for the role and (2) to help develop the skills that would make transitioning to the Board of Trustees easier for the selected candidates.
When will the selected trustees be appointed?
The final appointment is expected to happen at the December 2025 Board of Trustees meeting.
FAQ for voters
[edit]Are there requirements to be eligible to vote?
Yes, there are. The Elections Committee decides the voting eligibility criteria. You can use the AccountEligibility tool to quickly verify your voting eligibility.
How many times may I vote?
The rule is: one person, one vote. If you have multiple accounts that meet the voter requirement, you can still only vote once. Votes from multiple accounts belonging to the same individual will be struck. To meet the editor voting eligibility, your contributions will be counted across all wikis, if it’s your home-wiki or any other.
If you inadvertently vote twice, you should contact the Elections Committee and ask for the additional votes to be struck.
If you decide to change your vote, you may do so up until the moment the vote closes. This can be because you have changed your mind or if you have made a mistake. Simply vote again and your previous vote will be struck.
How does the STV on SecurePoll work?
Depending on the platform you are using to vote, you will see either drop-down selections or a drag-and-drop interface.
In both interfaces, the voting software requires you to rank at least one candidate.
| If you are voting through the web, you will encounter a drag-and-drop interface | If you are voting through mobile or if you don’t have Javascript enabled, you will encounter a drop-down selection |
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You can re-vote in the election, which will overwrite your previous vote. You can do this as many times as you like up until the moment the vote closes.
How does transferring votes work? Why shouldn't I rank every candidate?
The voting system is meant to allow voters to rank candidates in the order of preference. Ranking a candidate means that the voter is willing to support that candidate if the higher-ranked candidates are either elected or eliminated.
During the tallying process, votes are initially allocated to each voter's top-ranked candidate. If that candidate is elected with surplus votes or eliminated due to insufficient support, the vote is transferred to the next ranked candidate, and so on.
For example, imagine a voter ranks candidates A, B, C, and D, but not E or F. If candidates A, B, and C are either elected or eliminated, the vote would be transferred to candidate D. If D is also elected or eliminated, and the voter did not rank E or F, the vote becomes exhausted and is no longer transferred. To indicate willingness to support E or F, the voter should rank them as well.
How do I know who to vote for?
You can use the following resources to decide who to vote for:
- Click their names to review their applications
- Watch the candidates' video statements
Why are only some of the answers in the candidate application translated?
In order to help with voter evaluation, translations are being made available in a number of languages. Translations will be made available for the required questions. The optional questions and answers were intentionally not marked for translation in the template or candidate profile pages for capacity reasons.
I can see the usernames of the voters. Can I or others see how I voted?
The voter list is public; you can see who has cast a vote. This list is used by the scrutineers to make sure all the votes are valid. However, no one can see how someone voted; your vote is not attributable to you.
Questions regarding the August 21 announcement
[edit]- questions regarding the August 21, 2025 announcement from the Elections Committee and the Governance Committee regarding change to the order of the selection process
What do the bylaws say about seating Trustees?
Section 3 of the bylaws refers to the selection and seating of Trustees.
When did the Foundation begin implementing background checks as part of the Board nomination process?
To ensure compliance with the Board’s duty of care, and as outlined in the Board Handbook, the Foundation implemented background checks routinely beginning in July 2013. Media checks were formally added in 2016 as part of the background check process.
The background check and media check are initiated by the Wikimedia Foundation and completed with the assistance of external service providers with specialist expertise. The checks vary in length of time depending on several factors, including where a person is located.
Why is this process being done before the final results of the election?
This is based on best practices, increased scrutiny the board faces and to reduce uncertainty around candidate eligibility before community members vote. This change will ensure that all candidates in the voting roster are eligible to be seated. It also means that the community does not go through a voting process where the Board is then unable to implement the outcome. The final two candidates will still need to be appointed by the Board in a vote, which requires an executive session meeting in November.
The Elections Committee, in discussion with the Board Liaisons, has decided to open the voting period on October 8. The voting period will close October 23.
Who will have access to the information in the candidates background check?
The Secretary of the Board and a member of the Foundation’s People Department will have access to the results. They will not share identifiable information like address or other personal information except as required to complete the background check. If the background check process identifies information that indicates that a candidate may not be able to serve on the Board, the Secretary will raise this issue and share information with the Board Chair to determine what action is appropriate and whether additional information may need to be shared with the Board of Trustees.
What kinds of issues may disqualify a candidate from being seated and what might be announced if a candidate is disqualified?
This holistic process is intended to assess the fitness of candidates to be seated on the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit organization. The checks will determine legal requirements, the ability of a candidate to fulfill the duties of a Trustee, as well as a determination of temperament, judgment, and discretion that comes from the Governance Committee interview and the information collected in the media and background checks. This process has been in place for several years and is regularly evaluated to ensure it meets the needs of the Board. If the Board determines that a candidate cannot be seated based on the outcome of these processes, the candidate will be informed before the election. They will then have the opportunity to withdraw before the voting begins, though this may not be the only reason a candidate chooses to withdraw. In the unlikely event that the Board deems it necessary, e.g. to correct the record or for safety, the Board may make a public statement on disqualifying a candidate.
If any candidate is disqualified through this process, will one of the six non-shortlisted candidates be brought in as a finalist?
No, we will not go back to the non-shortlisted candidates and add any to this process. We are changing only the timing of when the background and media checks are run to determine if each candidate can be seated before voting takes place, given the organisation's increased visibility and potential higher risks to individuals. Had a candidate been disqualified after voting had taken place, the election results would have been recalculated to determine the next highest voted person. No new candidates would have been introduced to the process.