Council seat selection
Proposed amendment — awaiting formal Council adoption
A20-2026-10-14-F1. These rules are not yet in force. The website blocks elections under this amendment until the Council approves, certifies and publishes its adoption.
This amendment supplements Appendix A, Sections A4, A8, A9, A10 and A17. It changes no existing appointment or term, creates no new vote, and confers no corporate directorship.
A20.1. Application cutoff and equal consideration
Before voting, publish a future application cutoff for the vacant seat. All applications received by that cutoff are reviewed for completeness when the ballot opens. Every applicant with a complete application, professional biography, headshot, résumé, signed individual Council pledge, and successful identity verification appears together on one ballot. Administrative preference, shortlisting, or a prior “not proceeding” intake label cannot exclude a complete applicant. The Council evaluates seat qualifications and conflicts from the evidence. Late applications remain on file for a future vacancy.
A20.2. One member, one vote
The roster of currently seated voting members is frozen when the election opens. Each eligible member may select one candidate or abstain in each round. A member cannot submit a second or replacement vote in that round. Founding titles, sponsorships and administrative access create no additional vote. All candidates’ biographies, experience, résumés, verification status and conflict disclosures are available to eligible voters before voting.
A20.3. Conflicts and confidentiality
A conflicted member must recuse from the entire seat election and give a recorded reason. Recusals carry into every runoff and repeat round. Known self-candidacy conflicts are recorded automatically. Recused members are excluded from eligibility and quorum and cannot access private ballot materials. A conflict discovered after a vote invalidates that round and requires a new election record; the original vote is retained.
A20.4. Quorum and majority
Quorum is a majority of the filled, eligible voting seats, excluding recusals. At least five stakeholder categories must participate, except that the published founding appointment exception continues for seat appointments while fewer than five voting seats are filled. Abstentions count toward quorum but not candidate-selection votes. A candidate wins only with more than 50% of valid candidate-selection votes and quorum. No candidate-selection votes means no winner.
A20.5. Seven-day rounds and automatic runoffs
Every round remains open for seven full days. At its deadline the system records the tally. If quorum is absent or no candidate-selection votes were cast, the matter is deferred without a winner; a fresh election requires a recorded restart. Otherwise, if no candidate has a majority, the two highest vote-getters advance to a seven-day runoff. A tie at the advancement boundary requires a repeat vote among the current candidates before advancement; a final tie requires another runoff. Tied candidates are never selected by the Chair or administrator. A repeat round is a continuation of the same unresolved election, not reconsideration of a final appointment.
A20.6. Certification and separate publication
A majority result is not an appointment. An authorized reviewer must certify the recorded result, quorum, voter eligibility, recusals and unchanged candidate evidence. Final appointment additionally requires all existing appointment checks and the applicant’s publication consent. A separate, named publication authorization then appoints and publishes the winner. No existing appointment or term changes under this amendment. Unsuccessful candidates and late applications remain on file for future vacancies.
A20.7. Record integrity and changes
Preserve the cutoff, candidate evidence snapshots, roster, all ballots, abstentions, recusals, tallies, runoff links, notices, certification and publication actions in an append-only audit trail. Evidence, seat assignments, or voting membership changing after opening makes the election stale and blocks certification and publication. It must be voided with a reason and reopened without deleting prior records. No administrator may edit the frozen candidate list or pick which qualified applicants advance.
A20.8. Formal adoption and temporary founding waiver
This amendment is proposed until the Council formally approves and publishes its adoption. While fewer than five voting seats are filled, the adoption resolution expressly includes a temporary waiver of the five-stakeholder-category quorum requirement for this founding adoption vote only. Approval requires affirmative votes from at least 75% of all filled voting seats, rounded up, and no fewer than three affirmative votes. Vacant seats are not in the denominator. Recusals and abstentions do not lower this approval threshold. Quorum remains a majority of filled, eligible voting seats, excluding mandatory recusals. The temporary waiver ends for new votes once five voting seats are filled. With five or more filled seats, the normal amendment requirements apply: at least five participating stakeholder categories and affirmative votes from two-thirds of filled, eligible members. No waiver applies to identity verification, candidate qualification review, conflicts, recusals, audit records, other reserved matters, certification, or separate publication authorization. Adoption requires a seven-day recorded vote that explicitly approves the amendment and applicable founding waiver, followed by certification and separately authorized publication. Only then may a seat election open under these rules.
Download the proposed Charter amendment (PDF)
Governance Charter with proposed amendment attached
Current Governance Charter · Existing founding appointment policy