Bylaws Revision: VOTING[3]

[Nils Lohner]

[ some cleanup... if the general principles are OK, I'll go forward and 
write something up soon.
- clarified 'one member one vote'
- clarified that a quorum is needed... still need to determine what 
constitutes a quorum.  Debian uses square roots... shall we go for logs? :)
--Nils]

VOTING
------

- The voting procedures should be similar to a company and its stockholders 
or to a cooperative and its members
- each member shall have exactly one vote
- the system needs to relatively be fast and reactive, but needs checks and 
balances to ensure the wishes of the membership are carried out by the board
- non contributing members should not be able to vote
- all votes (unless otherwise stated) are approved by a majority (>50%)
- the quorum shall be set by <something> (look at debian constitution for 
this?  Suggestions?  It should not be too small, but also not be too 
large...)

General
-------
- There are too many members to ask them to vote every time an issue is 
raised, therefore the board acts on behalf of its members
- The board of directors together with the committees run the organization.
- the board of directors (and its committees) represent the membership and 
acts in accordance with its wishes.
- from time to time the board of directors will pose questions to the 
members when it is not clear how the membership feels about an issue


Board appointments
------------------
[this may go into the 'board' section of the bylaws, but its important to 
keep an eye on in the voting section]
- the members will approve the appointments on the board of directors
- the members ultimately control the actions of the organization
- removal of board members
.. this should be relatively difficult... 2/3 majority vote of the board or 
of the membership maybe?


Resolutions
-----------
- resolutions are voted on by the board of directors
- Members and committes may put resolutions before the board of directors 
for voting
- Members have the power to override the board of directors by a majority 
vote



-- 
Nils Lohner                         Software in the Public Interest, Inc.
E-Mail: lohner at spi-inc.org          PO Box 1326 
Board Of Directors <board at spi-inc.org> Boston, Ma. 02117 USA