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<title>GNOME Foundation 2002 Elections Rules</title>
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<h1>Rules & Timeline for the GNOME Foundation 2002 Elections</h1>
<h2>Elections Rules</h2>
<ol>
<li>
See the <a href="../../about/charter/">GNOME Foundation charter</a> for
general rules.
</li>
<li>
There are 11 board slots that are to be filled during these elections.
</li>
<li>
Members of the GNOME Foundation as of November 1, 2002 are eligible to
vote in the elections. Anyone who has made a contribution to GNOME can
apply for membership by completing the <a
href="../../membership/application.php">application</a>.
</li>
<li>
Any eligible voter is eligible to be elected to the Board of Directors.
To announce your candidacy, send a message to
<a href="http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-announce/">foundation-announce@gnome.org</a>
with your full name, e-mail, corporate affiliation (if any), and a
description of your reasons for wanting to serve as a director.
Candidacies must be announced prior to November 4, 2002, 23:59 UTC.
</li>
<li>
All candidates should mail a summary of their candicacy announcement
(see previous rule) to <a
href="mailto:elections@gnome.org">elections@gnome.org</a>.
Summaries should be no more than 75 words of continuous text (i.e. no
bullet lists or multiple paragraphs) and must be received by the
nomination deadline given above. A compilation of the summaries will be
mailed to all registered voters several days prior to the elections.
</li>
<li>
All discussion related to the elections should be held on
<a href="http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/">foundation-list@gnome.org</a>.
Members are invited to ask questions to one or all candidates on that
list.
</li>
<li>
Ballots will be sent via e-mail to all eligible voters on November 25,
2002, and must be returned by December 2, 2002, 23:59 UTC (18:59 EST).
Full instructions will be included in the ballot.
</li>
<li>
Ballots will be held confidential during the elections, but an archive
of all submitted ballots will be made publicly accessible at its
conclusion.
</li>
<li>
The Elections Committee is responsible for counting the ballots, after
taking appropriate action to fix misformatted ballots.
</li>
<li>
The 11 candidates who receive the most votes will be elected, except
that no more than four individuals affiliated with any one corporation
may be elected. Should more than four of the top eleven vote-getters
be affiliated with the same company, only the four with the most votes
will be considered elected. For a full definition of corporate
affiliation, see the <a href="../../about/charter/">GNOME Foundation charter</a>.
</li>
<li>
In the event of a tie for the final slot on the board, the Elections
Committee will schedule run-off elections as soon as possible.
</li>
<li>
The Elections Committee will announce preliminary results as soon as
possible after the elections close, along with instructions on how to
access the ballot archive and how to independently verify the vote
count.
</li>
<li>
Any eligible voter may challenge the preliminary results by e-mailing
<a
href="mailto:elections@gnome.org">elections@gnome.org</a>
prior to December 20, 2002. The decision of the Elections Committee as
to any challenge shall be final. Once any challenges have been
resolved, the Elections Committee shall announce the final results.
</li>
<li>
Any questions regarding these procedures should be directed to the
Elections Committee by e-mail to <a
href="mailto:elections@gnome.org">elections@gnome.org</a>.
The committee shall have the power to make any necessary changes or
clarifications to these rules at any point during the elections.
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Timeline</h2>
<p><small>(all deadlines are 23:59 UTC/18:59 EST)</small></p>
<ul>
<li>
November 4 (Monday): Last day to announce candidacies, submit summary
statements, and apply for membership (to be eligible for these
elections).
</li>
<li>
November 6 (Wednesday): Final list of candidates, platform summaries
mailed to <a
href="http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/">foundation-list@gnome.org</a>.
</li>
<li>
November 25 (Monday): Ballots mailed to eligible voters, voting begins.
</li>
<li>
December 2 (Monday): Voting closes.
</li>
<li>
December 3 (Tuesday): Preliminary results mailed to
<a href="http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/">foundation-list@gnome.org</a>.
</li>
<li>
December 20 (Friday): Last day to challenge preliminary results.
</li>
</ul>
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