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Revising eligible voters of Chair election and Chair's term

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Proposer:       Masato Yamanishi 
                myamanis@gmail.com

1. Problem statement 
--------------------

1. Eligible voters in SIG Chair election 
In current SIG guidelines, we have no rule or guideline about eligible
voters in SIG Chair election and we have two issues by the lack of such
rule.

Firstly, we need to have clear guideline whether remote participants
have voting rights for SIG Chair election since current practice is
different in each election.

Secondary, it can be used by fraud, like hijacking the position of Chair
agaist the Community by inviting many persons who never attend the
community discussion.

2. SIG Chair's term of service 
While SIG guidelines says "Elections occur yearly. Chair elections and
Co-Chair elections occur in alternate years.", both elections were held
at same meeting in several cases, in particular when a current Co-Chair
stands for the position of Chair, and Chair election and Co-Chair
election occur in same year after that. 

From the continuity of Chair-ship, it is more preferable to stagger 
Chair's and Co-Chair's term. 

In addition, there is no alternative condition for the successor's term
if current Chair/Co-Chair resigned or was removed though such
alternative condition is necessary to maintain staggered term as
requested by SIG guideline. (a.k.a. the successor's term of service is
same as remaining term of resigned or removed Chair)


2. Objective of policy change 
----------------------------- 
The objective is preventing confusions related to remote participant as
well as mitigating possible frauds in SIG Chair election by setting
clear rule for eligible voters. 

In addition, we can also expect aligning SIG guideline with current
practice as well as resolving unclearness of the successor's term when
current Chair/Co-Chair resigned or was removed by revising SIG Chair's
term of service.


3. Situation in other regions 
----------------------------- 
Please refer following page made by Adam Gosling 

Comparison of RIR SIG/WG Chair Election Processes
    https://www.apnic.net/sig-guidelines/chair-elections/other-rirs


4. Proposed policy solution 
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1. Eligible voters in SIG Chair election 
I would like to propose limiting eligible voters of SIG Chair election
to registered participants of APNIC Conference where the election is
held. In this context, registered participants include remote
participants who register to Confer, or its successor in future. 

2. SIG Chair's term of service 
I would like to propose revising SIG Chair's term of service as follows.
    - Elections occur yearly. Chair elections and Co-Chair elections
      occur in alternate years (same as current SIG guideline) 

    - If current Chair/Co-Chair resigned or was removed, the succesor's
      term should be remaining term of current Chair/Co-Chair 

    - If Chair election and Co-Chair election are happen in same year
      from other reasons than resignation or removal shown in above,
      Co-Chair's (or Co-Chairs') term of service should be one year as
      Chair's and Co-Chairs' term of service are staggered

5. Advantages / Disadvantages 
----------------------------- 

Advantages:
By setting clear rule for eligible voters, 
    - we can avoid confusion whether remote participant cast vote for
      SIG Chair election or not 

    - we can mitigate frauds in SIG Chair election By revising SIG
      Chair's term of service 

    - we can resolve a conflict between SIG guideline and current
      practice 

    - we can resolve unclearness of the successor's term when current
      Chair/Co-Chair resigned or was removed

Disadvantages: 
APNIC staff may need to spend some additional time to confirm whether 
each voter is registered participants. 

There is disadvantage by revising SIG Chair's term of service.


6. Impact on resource holders 
----------------------------- 

No direct impact


7. References 
------------- 

Chair Election Procedure Review by Adam Gosling
    https://www.apnic.net/community/participate/sigs/chair-elections

Comparison of RIR SIG/WG Chair Election Processes
    https://www.apnic.net/sig-guidelines/chair-elections/other-rirs 

APNIC SIG Guidelines
    https://www.apnic.net/community/participate/sigs/sig-guidelines