Wikimedia LGBT+/Elections

Board of Trustees Election rules

Organizing online elections for an anonymous online membership is challenging. Anyone with ideas for improving the election should discuss on the talk page.

The Wikimedia community develops best practices for managing elections and this election seeks to follow that precedent. To learn more about Wikimedia elections, join discussions on Meta-wiki or wherever Wikimedia community members are gathering.

Election stakes

This election is for 3-year terms for seats on the Wikimedia LGBT+ Board of Trustees, which is an organization of contributors to Wikimedia projects and allied free and open media programs.

Election committee

The Wikimedia LGBT+ governance committee confirms the election committee. The election committee is responsible for the following:

Receiving the organization's membership list from the governance committee
Maintaining the election page to inform the membership
Setting up a voting service to provide a ballot to the registered email address of each member
Counting and confirming votes
Informing the governance committee of the result

The election committee should be at least two people. To run an election, the expected labor total labor commitment per committee member is 3 hours.

In July 2023, the election committee includes

Bluerasberry (talk)
(need additional member)

Eligible voters

Wikimedia LGBT+ members are the electorate. Each member gets one vote. Only members who are in good standing at the time of election confirmation are eligible to vote in the election. Anyone who wishes to vote but who is not eligible may apply for membership and establish good standing to vote in a future election.

Election nominees

To stand in the election, eligible voters may nominate themselves by editing the election page of the relevant year. Members of the Elections committee cannot be candidates for any election they oversee; if someone wants to stand in an election, they must resign from the Elections committee before the public announcement of that election.

Candidate profiles

Nominees should add a new sub topic on the election page of the relevant year, titled with their name as they want it to appear on the ballot, followed by their candidate profile. Candidates are encouraged to include the following:

Personal info and background relevant to the work of Wikimedia & LGBT+ interests
Wikimedia & LGBT+ activities and major achievements
Experience that might be relevant to this role
Expertise / relevant administrative or governance experience
Commitments that you can make to promote ethics, values, diversity, and inclusion
Explanation of suitability to serve as a Wikimedia LGBT+ trustee
Any special areas / types of activities which would be a focus during a trustee term

Call for nominees

Here is sample text to send out in a call for nominees:

You are receiving this email because you are a member of Wikimedia LGBT+ and are eligible to participate in its upcoming election. This email is call for nominees for the Wikimedia LGBT+ Board of Trustees, and you are invited to nominate yourself if you wish. In a few weeks you will also receive a ballot by email to vote on the nominees.

If you would like to stand for election or see more information about it, please do so on the election page at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_LGBT+/Elections/2023

Thanks for your consideration. If you have anything to share, then please post comments on the talk page at

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_LGBT+/Elections

Confirmation of candidates

Election nominees become election candidates after confirmation from the governance committee. This confirmation is a security practice which checks for the good standing of members. Verification includes checks that the organization identifies the candidate, that any blocks or restrictions in other community projects are documented and reviewed as permissible, and may include other online safety practices which the Wikimedia community develops.

Voting

Election format

This organization is relatively small and a simple election is sufficient.

The ballot contains a list of the confirmed candidates. Voters may vote for any number of them. The election winners are those with the most votes.

The election results report the number of votes received and the total count of votes for each candidate. If current technology in use has support for presenting additional information, such as intentionally spoiled ballots, improperly cast ballots, or whatever else seems useful, then Wikimedia community values encourage either publishing that or giving an explanation as to why not publish it.

Election period

Eligible voters may cast ballots for eligible candidates during the election period.

Here is sample text to send out to the voters

You are receiving this email because you are a member of Wikimedia LGBT+ and are eligible to vote in the election of its Board of Trustees. This email provides your personal ballot. Follow the link and vote for your preferred candidates.

(link here)

To learn about the election or read candidate profiles please visit the election page at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_LGBT+/Elections/2023

Thanks for your consideration. If you have anything to share, then please post comments on the talk page at

https://meta.wikimedia.org//Talk:Wikimedia_LGBT+/Elections

Election administration

The election committee may administer the election however they see fit. Here is an example election administrative process:

Maintain an election page on Meta-Wiki, including the talk page where anyone can ask questions
Use the commercial service at https://electionbuddy.com/ to administer the election according to the automated guidance included with that tool suite
Share the election report which the commercial service generates

Scrutiny of ballots

The election committee manages the election with online voting tools. Features which are part of the voting include the following:

Unique ballots by email to voters
Confirmation of ballot received from voting tool
Generation of report at end of election
Option to scrutinize ballots

Regardless of election security, all elections will have unanticipated events and odd by-products. By default the election committee will interpret ballots as they are. If and when the committee identifies odd outcomes, they will bring this information to the governance committee for interpretation.

Results

Confirmation of results

The election committee and the governance committee will co-report election results. The Wikimedia LGBT+ board has final say in mediating disputes and confirming election results.

Candidate confirmation

Following the reporting of results the board will make an offer of board appointment to elected candidates. After appointment, those organization members become board trustees.

Future elections

Wikimedia LGBT+/Elections/2023