CZ:Special Elections and Referenda October 2011

Notice to all Citizens

As there are currently two vacancies arising on the Management Council and one vacancy on the Editorial Council, the Management Council has called a Special Election, as per the rules of the Citizendium Charter to fill those vacancies.

All Citizens in good standing are eligible to be nominated for the Management council seats. The specially elected officers will complete the terms of office of the members who vacated their particular seat as specified by the Management Council.

The seats to be filled by this election include the seats on the Management Council vacated by:

• Milton Beychok, which expires on July 1, 2012
• David E. Volk, which expires on July 1, 2013

The seat to be filled by this election is the seat on the Editorial council vacated by:

• Howard C. Berkowitz, which expires on January 1, 2013

Timetable

The timetable for the elections is as follows:

Begin accepting nominations and referenda on September 10, 2011;
Stop accepting nominations and referenda at the end of September 24, 2011;
Have the ballot prepared by October 1, 2011;
Begin accepting ballots from eligible voters on October 1, 2011;
Stop accepting ballots at the end of October 7, 2011.

Referenda

Referenda to amend the Charter may also be held, with voting also to take place between October 1, 2011 and October 7, 2011.

As per the Charter, referenda may be initiated in two ways:

1. Any Citizen may petition either the Management Council or Editorial Council that contested rules or guidelines be submitted to a referendum. Either Council must have jurisdiction over the contested matter. Either Council may, by simple majority vote, submit the referendum to a vote of the citizenry at the next regular election.

2. A referendum may be initiated by a group of Citizens corresponding in size to 20 percent of the number of voters in the previous election. The Management Council must include a valid citizen-initiated referendum in the next regular election. Failure to do so will automatically pass the referendum which shall then become official policy and enforceable. This charter may not be amended by a failure of the Management Council to submit a referendum to a vote.

To propose a referendum, please do so on the Citizendium Forums. As the last elections had a valid poll of forty (40) voters, a referendum proposed under #2 above will therefore require the support of eight (8) Citizens in order to appear on the ballot.

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Referenda to appear on the ballot:

1. Modify the charter so the introductory clause of Article 30 reads, "Elections and referenda shall be organized by the Management Council and carried out by the Election Committee, with the following conditions:"

Discussion on Referendum 1 may be found on the CZ forum, here.

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Nominations: Management Council

For a candidate to appear on the ballot, he or she must:

1. Be nominated by a Citizen in good standing, including him- or herself.
2. Be Seconded by another Citizen in good standing only if he or she is nominating him- or herself. Otherwise, a Citizen's nomination does not need to be Seconded.
3. Formally accept the nomination.

To NOMINATE a Citizen as a candidate, please follow these steps:

1. NOTE: A Citizen may nominate more than one candidate.
2. In the space just below these instructions and below the two lines, and in Edit mode, type * in the far left margin and then the name of the Citizen you are nominating. Then add your signature and timestamp by typing four tildes ~~~~
3. Click on Save page

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• BOB TEST-NAME Anton Sweeney 21:14, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
  • SECOND Anton Sweeney 21:14, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

• John R. Brews by Milton Beychok 17:51, 13 September 2011 (UTC)
  

• Nick Gardner by Milton Beychok 17:51, 13 September 2011 (UTC)
  

• Derek Hodges by Milton Beychok 22:24, 13 September 2011 (UTC)
  

• Robert Badgett by Milton Beychok 05:07, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

• John Stephenson by Milton Beychok 05:16, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

• Thomas Simmons by Peter Schmitt 21:15, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

• Peter Jackson by Peter Schmitt 23:46, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

To SECOND a Citizen as a candidate, please follow these steps:

1. NOTE: A Citizen may second more than one candidate.
2. Go to Edit mode and scroll down to the name of the candidate that you wish to second. In the space below that name type ** in the far left margin and then the word SECOND. Then add your signature and timestamp by typing four tildes ~~~~
3. Click on Save page

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Nominations: Editorial Council

For a candidate to appear on the ballot, he or she must:

1. Already be an Editor, as an Editor seat is being filled.
2. Be nominated by a Citizen in good standing, including him- or herself.
3. Be Seconded by another Citizen in good standing only if he or she is nominating him- or herself. Otherwise, a Citizen's nomination does not need to be Seconded.
4. Formally accept the nomination.

To NOMINATE a Citizen as a candidate, please follow these steps:

1. NOTE: A Citizen may nominate more than one candidate.
2. In the space just below these instructions and below the two lines, and in Edit mode, type * in the far left margin and then the name of the Citizen you are nominating. Then add your signature and timestamp by typing four tildes ~~~~
3. Click on Save page

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• BOB TEST-NAME Anton Sweeney 21:14, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
  • SECOND Anton Sweeney 21:14, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
• User:Nick Gardner by Milton Beychok 17:58, 13 September 2011 (UTC)
  

• User:Robert Badgett by Milton Beychok 18:06, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

• User:Sandy Harris by Peter Schmitt 21:17, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

• John R Brews Nick Gardner 15:18, 19 September 2011 (UTC) [Invalid nomination - please see the discussion page.]

To SECOND a Citizen as a candidate, please follow these steps:

1. NOTE: A Citizen may second more than one candidate.
2. Go to Edit mode and scroll down to the name of the candidate that you wish to second. In the space below that name type ** in the far left margin and then the word SECOND. Then add your signature and timestamp by typing four tildes ~~~~
3. Click on Save page

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Management Council candidates and links to their Statements

Name of nominee	Accept/Decline (please sign with four tildes)	Statement
Robert Badgett	-	Statement
John R. Brews	accept John R. Brews 18:09, 24 September 2011 (UTC)	Statement
Nick Gardner	decline Nick Gardner 08:41, 15 September 2011 (UTC)	Statement
Derek Hodges	accept Derek Hodges 15:20, 16 September 2011 (UTC)	Statement
Thomas Simmons	-	Statement
John Stephenson	-	Statement
Peter Jackson	decline Peter Jackson 10:38, 21 September 2011 (UTC)	Statement

All candidates who accept their nominations should write a Statement about themselves, their beliefs, their background at Citizendium, their programs, etc. To do so, simply click on the word "Statement" at the far right of their user line, fill in the blank space with their Statement, and click "Save page".

Editorial Council candidates and links to their Statements

Name of nominee	Accept/Decline (please sign with four tildes)	Statement
Robert Badgett	-	Statement
Nick Gardner	accept Nick Gardner 08:42, 15 September 2011 (UTC)	Statement
Sandy Harris	- decline Sandy Harris 02:27, 25 September 2011 (UTC)	Statement

All candidates who accept their nominations should write a Statement about themselves, their beliefs, their background at Citizendium, their programs, etc. To do so, simply click on the word "Statement" at the far right of their user line, fill in the blank space with their Statement, and click "Save page".

Voting

Voting in the Elections and Referendum runs from midnight UTC, October 1, to midnight (UTC) October 7th, 2011.

Results

The ballots and tally of the above Special Elections and Referendum have been collated and have now been audited by Dan Nessett of the MC. The results are as follows:

All elections and the referendum

All ballots recorded are valid, being cast between the opening and closing times and dates by citizens in good standing.

Referendum

13 people cast ballots.

Yes votes: 12
No votes: 1

As the required two-thirds majority has been reached, the referendum is carried.

The number of citizens required to sponsor a citizen-initiated referendum in the next regular election is therefore three.

Management Council

14 people cast ballots.

John R. Brews: 6 votes
Derek Hodges: 8 votes

Derek Hodges takes the seat being vacated by David E. Volk, which expires on July 1, 2013.
John R. Brews takes the seat being vacated by Milton Beychok, which expires on July 1, 2012.

Editorial Council

13 people cast ballots.

'Approval'/Yes votes: 12
'Disapproval'/No votes: 1

Nick Gardner is therefore elected to the Editorial Council, taking the seat being vacated by Howard C. Berkowitz, which expires on January 1, 2013.

Thanks to all those who participated and to Matt Innis who also served on the Election Committee.

Anton Sweeney 21:19, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
Election Committee Chair