[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: GR Ballot Option: Allow, but do not require, secret voting



On 3/1/22 23:13, Harlan Lieberman-Berg wrote:
Hello everyone,

I propose the following ballot option for the current GR:

Rationale
========
While I agree that there are some votes which, due to their nature,
may be so controversial that the potential for a person's votes to be
publicly revealed may cause them to change their vote (or opt out of
the election), even among divisive GRs, few rise to that level of
controversy: the RMS GR and the systemd GR being two recent examples
which have provoked ire.

There is something which fundamentally distinguishes the kind of
voting that Debian does from that of a private institution or group,
where minutes and votes are typically kept out of public view: Debian
serves a larger community than the members of the institution.  In
that sense, we are more similar to a public body than a private
membership.

Our Social Contract makes this distinction clear: when it says that we
will not hide problems, it immediately emphasizes that the bug
database will be open for public view at all times.   Taking the step
to make a particular vote secret should require us to stop and
carefully weigh the costs to the larger community.

I hope this option better strikes the balance between the aspirations
of public visibility and the occasional, pragmatic need for secrecy.

Ballot Option
==========
The changes are available at:
https://salsa.debian.org/hlieberman/webwml/-/commit/82729d07aba7dd7ac641f7e4a87178f34b23efca

A diff follows (the word diff is very confusing, so I've omitted it):

diff --git a/english/devel/constitution.wml b/english/devel/constitution.wml
index 41cb9dfbd80..7924992d3a7 100644
--- a/english/devel/constitution.wml
+++ b/english/devel/constitution.wml
@@ -226,12 +226,15 @@ earlier can overrule everyone listed later.</cite></p>

   <li>
     <p>
-       Votes are taken by the Project Secretary. Votes, tallies, and
-       results are not revealed during the voting period; after the
-       vote the Project Secretary lists all the votes cast. The voting
-       period is 2 weeks, but may be varied by up to 1 week by the
-       Project Leader.
+       Votes, tallies, and results are not revealed during the voting period. +       After the vote, the Project Secretary lists all the votes cast, unless
+       either one of the following is true:
     </p>
+    <ol>
+       <li><p>The vote is for a leadership election as defined in
&sect;5.2.</p></li>
+       <li><p>At least 4K Developers have sponsored any single ballot option
+       which says the votes will be kept secret.</p></li>
+    </ol>
   </li>

   <li>


Resending with not-clearsigned signature this time.


Attachment: OpenPGP_signature
Description: OpenPGP digital signature


Reply to: