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<title>GNOME Foundation 2005 Elections Rules</title>
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<h1>Rules & Timeline for the GNOME Foundation 2005 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 7 board slots that are to be filled during these elections.
</li>
<li>
Members of the GNOME Foundation as of November 6, 2005 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 14, 2005, 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>
Instructions explaining how to vote will be sent via e-mail to all
eligible voters on November 26, 2005, and votes must be returned by
December 10, 2005, 23:59 UTC (18:59 EST).
</li>
<li>
Votes will be held confidential during the elections, but an anonymized
archive of all submitted votes will be made publicly accessible at its
conclusion.
</li>
<li>
The Elections Committee is responsible for counting the votes.
</li>
<li>
The 7 candidates who receive the most votes will be elected, except
that no more than two/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 votes 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 24, 2005. 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 6 (Sunday): Last day to apply for membership (to be eligible
for these elections).
</li>
<li>
November 14 (Monday): Last day to announce candidacies, submit summary
statements.
</li>
<li>
November 16 (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 (Friday): Instructions mailed to eligible voters, voting begins.
</li>
<li>
December 9 (Monday): Voting closes.
</li>
<li>
December 10 (Saturday): Preliminary results are announced.
</li>
<li>
December 23 (Friday): Last day to challenge preliminary results.
</li>
</ul>
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