PDP Chair Election Procedure

PDP chair role incompatibilities · The proposed incompatibility rule changes from barring other positions within RIR/NIR, ICANN, TLD, or similar organizational structures to barring roles directly involved in any phase of the policy development process. The new wording also expressly provides that an elected candidate will cease in, or not assume, the incompatible role as specified in the nomination.

Candidate membership qualification and nomination support · Candidate qualification changes from being a LACNIC member or being supported by two LACNIC members to being the membership contact of a LACNIC member organization or being nominated by two such membership contacts.

Electoral use of the Public Policy List and disqualification · The rule requiring candidates to comply strictly with the AUP and allowing supporter AUP violations to disqualify a candidate is replaced by a rule under which electoral use of the list, including by candidate supporters, may result in disqualification at the chairs' discretion when there is evidence of collusion.

Fraud findings and invalidation of the election process · The fraud provision is revised to apply at any time during the process and expressly permits disqualification of implicated candidates or invalidation and repetition of the entire process. The revised text directs that the replacement timeline align the election results as closely as possible with the following Public Policy Forum.

Runoff election trigger · Runoff voting is expanded beyond a tie between leading candidates. In an election with more than two candidates, a runoff between the top two candidates is also required when the leading candidate's margin is less than 10%.

Assessment of post-result objections · The objection standard changes from assessing whether objections are significant to assessing whether they are both significant and proven. The ratification condition is also rephrased so ratification proceeds if no objections are raised or the chairs decide not to consider them.

Recusal of a chair who is a candidate · A candidate-chair's recusal expands from abstaining only as chair during ratification to abstaining from every aspect of the election process. The revised text additionally requires the Board of Directors to appoint one or two non-candidate community members, as applicable, to chair the process.

Election appeals · The supplied new text adds that the LACNIC Board of Directors is the highest instance of appeal for matters relating to the election process; the supplied old text contains no corresponding appeal provision.

Candidate nomination sponsorship · The candidate sponsorship alternative changes from nomination by "two membership contact" of a single LACNIC member organization to nomination by two membership contacts of LACNIC member organizations, clarifying that two contacts are required and allowing the wording to encompass multiple organizations.

Chair reelection eligibility · The old text says chairs are "illegible" to run again after a one-year pause; the new text says they are "eligible" to run again. This reverses the literal eligibility rule after the pause.

Voter eligibility and voter registry controls · The fixed rule allowing participation by anyone who had been on the Public Policy List for at least six months is replaced by a voter-registry anti-tampering provision under which efforts will be made to exclude election-only subscribers, with a subscription cutoff of an unspecified number of months offered as an example.

One-vote safeguard · The electronic-voting safeguard changes from an unqualified requirement to use mechanisms ensuring one vote per voter to a requirement to ensure this only "to the extent possible."

Electoral misuse of the Public Policy List · Disqualification for collusive electoral use of the list is no longer expressly stated to be at the discretion of the chairs; the new text retains possible disqualification where there is evidence of collusion without identifying that decision-maker in this provision.

Fraud findings and process invalidation authority · The old text expressly assigns the chairs responsibility for determining whether sufficient indications of fraud exist and authority to disqualify candidates or invalidate the process. The new text uses impersonal or passive language and no longer expressly assigns those decisions to the chairs.

Candidate acceptance announcement · The announcement provision changes from publishing the names of "acceptable candidates" to publishing the names of candidates who meet all requirements and have been accepted, expressly linking publication to satisfaction of the requirements and acceptance.

Community information about candidates and Board disqualification · The old text allows community submissions consisting of expressions of support and information for objections and requires simultaneous publication. The new text instead conditions publication on confirmation of the information and expressly authorizes the Board to disqualify one or more candidates based on that information.

Tie definition and runoff threshold · The old text triggers a runoff for an exact tie or, when there are more than two candidates, when the leading margin is below 10%. The new text defines any difference below 10% as a tie and provides for a runoff between the top two when there are more than two candidates.

Objections and ratification authority · Responsibility for receiving objections, assessing whether they are significant and proven, and ratifying the winner shifts from the acting chairs to the LACNIC Board.

Recusal and replacement when a chair is a candidate · The old text requires a chair who is running to abstain from every aspect of the election process and requires the Board to appoint one or two non-candidate community members to chair the process. The new text omits this recusal-and-replacement provision while assigning the objection and ratification decision to the Board.

Restrictions on the two PDP Chairs' affiliations · The restriction preventing both chairs from being from the same country was replaced by a restriction preventing them from being from the same company or the same or related companies. The former exception also specified how one chair would cease serving at the following election, while the replacement exception contains no corresponding cessation procedure.

Nature and compensation of Chair work · The positions were described as honorary; the replacement text expressly describes the work as voluntary and unpaid.

Candidate residency and member-contact nomination requirements · Candidate eligibility changed from being a LACNIC member-organization contact or being nominated by two such contacts to residing in the region for more than half the year and being either a member-organization contact or nominated by one such contact.

Voter-registry subscription cutoff · The illustrative cutoff based on subscribers who joined an unspecified “n” months before the process was replaced by a fixed requirement that subscribers have joined at least six months before the process.

Delegation of election-process functions · A provision was added allowing the Board of Directors to delegate its election-process functions to a Fiscal Commission or equivalent body; the prior text proceeded directly from the Board's appellate authority to additional information.

Implementation timetable · The timetable field changed from “Immediate implementation” to a dash, with no timetable value stated in the supplied replacement text.

PDP Chair candidate eligibility and nomination requirements · The candidate requirement no longer states that candidates must reside in the region more than 50% of the year. It instead requires a candidate to be the membership contact of a LACNIC member organization or to be nominated by such a membership contact.

PDP Chair re-election limits · The re-election rule changes from allowing only one consecutive term followed by a one-year pause to allowing re-election once and renewed eligibility after a period of at least one year.

Restrictions on chairs' country and organizational affiliation · The restriction changed from prohibiting chairs from the same or related companies to prohibiting chairs from the same country or from the same or related organizations, while retaining an exception when no other acceptable candidates exist.

Use of the Public Policy List for electoral purposes · The earlier text tied possible disqualification to electoral use of the list by persons supportive of a candidate where collusion was evidenced. The revised text expressly prohibits electoral use of the list, including expressions for or against candidates, and specifies that proven collusion with a candidate may disqualify that candidate.

Election process scheduling · The fixed schedule requiring a call for candidates on the first day of the month three full months before the term ends, with a 28-to-31-day nomination phase, was replaced by a requirement to begin sufficiently early to permit completion before the outgoing chair's term ends even if the process must be repeated.

Community information concerning candidates · The fixed ten-day community-information period, mandatory simultaneous publication of confirmed information, and resulting Board disqualification authority were replaced by a period of at least ten days for submitting relevant information to the Board, with the Board empowered to decide on its use, publication, and potential disqualification.

Voting period · The requirement that voting begin on the first working Monday after the preceding period and remain open for exactly seven calendar days was replaced by a requirement that voting remain open for no less than seven calendar days, without the prior Monday-based start rule.

Winner determination and runoff voting · The earlier rule treated a vote difference below 10% as a tie and conditionally required a runoff between the two leading candidates. The revised rule elects the candidate with the most votes, limits runoff voting to an actual tie between the two highest tied candidates, and requires the runoff to remain open for at least seven calendar days.

Announcement of voting results · The requirement for LACNIC to announce first-round and applicable runoff results immediately was replaced by a requirement to announce each voting round's result as soon as feasible.

Current-text vacancy replacement term · In the quoted current text, the prior statement that a person elected after a failed ratification serves only the remainder of the original term is replaced by a statement that the Board-appointed chair serves only until an election can be held and a winner ratified.

Incompatible roles for PDP Chairs · The proposed incompatibility rule is revised from roles involved in any phase of the policy-development process to roles directly involved in its flow, with the Electoral Commission and Board of Directors added as examples; the procedure for relinquishing an incompatible role is also rephrased.

Geographic and organizational diversity of Chairs · The proposed restriction preventing both Chairs from being from the same country or the same or related organizations, except when no other acceptable candidates exist, is removed.

Voter registry eligibility · The voter-registry rule changes from an effort-based mechanism intended to exclude election-only subscribers to a categorical statement that the registry comprises persons who subscribed at least six months before the election process began.

Use of the Public Policy List for electoral purposes · The blanket prohibition on electoral use of the list, including expressions for or against candidates, is replaced by a prohibition that expressly excepts LACNIC announcements. Candidate disqualification is changed from being tied to evidence of collusion to being a possible consequence of noncompliance generally.

Fraud remedies and repeat-election timing · The fraud provision is condensed. It retains possible candidate disqualification and election invalidation but removes the explicit requirement that LACNIC repeat the entire process and the requirement to align the repeated election results as closely as possible with the following Public Policy Forum.

Election scheduling, candidate publication, and community review · The proposed requirements to start elections sufficiently early for a repeat process, publish the accepted candidates, and provide at least ten calendar days for community submissions about candidates are removed.

Voting duration, winner determination, runoff, and result announcements · The proposed minimum seven-day voting period, highest-vote winner rule, minimum seven-day runoff procedure for ties, and prompt announcement of each voting round are removed.

Objections and Board ratification procedure · The proposed seven-day period for objections, Board assessment of whether objections are significant and proven, and express Board ratification of the winning candidate are removed.

Term following failed ratification or early vacancy · The prior proposal stated that the person elected after a failed ratification would serve only the remainder of the original term. The revised proposal instead states that the Board-appointed chair serves until an election can be held and a winner ratified, while retaining application of the mechanism to resignation or failure to perform responsibilities.

Delegation of Board election functions · The body to which the Board may delegate election-related functions is changed from a Fiscal Commission or equivalent to an Electoral Commission or equivalent.

PDP chair reelection eligibility · The reelection rule changed from allowing only one consecutive reelection followed by a waiting period of at least one year to allowing unlimited reelection.

Use of the Public Policy List during elections · The prohibited use of the list changed from the broader category of "electoral purposes" to "campaigning."