Draft: NRO NC Election Process v4
Authors: |
Ulka Athale, Mirjam Kühne, Niall O'Reilly |
Date: |
November 2023 |
Status: |
Scope
This document serves to describe existing processes and lay out additional processes related to the election of representatives from the RIPE community to the Number Resource Organization (NRO) Numbering Council (NC). Members of the NRO NC also fill seats on the Address Supporting Organization (ASO) Address Council (AC) to ICANN.
Each RIR community selects two people to serve on the NRO NC. Each RIR’s Executive Board also appoints one person from its respective region to the NRO NC. The RIPE NCC’s Executive Board processes related to the appointment and dismissal of the appointed NRO NC member are not within the scope of this document.
This document includes:
- Guiding Principles
- The Election Process
- Candidate Eligibility
- Voter Eligibility
- Term Limits
- Resignation
- Dismissal of an Elected Member
- Applicability to IANA Numbering Services Review Committee
Appendix A: References
Appendix B: Provenance and Rationale
Appendix C: Document History
1. Guiding Principles
The NRO NC election process was discussed by the LIR Working Group at RIPE 34 and RIPE 35. Consensus was reached on the basic principles of the process:
- It must be open, transparent and simple
- Each person receives one vote
- Voting must be open to the RIPE community and not restricted to RIPE NCC members only
2. The Election Process
The RIPE NCC will send an announcement of the upcoming elections 60 days prior to the RIPE Meeting during which the elections will take place. However, in some cases, the 60-day notice might not be possible, for instance, if an elected NRO NC member steps down.
The RIPE NCC, as the secretariat, will publish a timeline with the important dates and deadlines, along with the nomination process for candidates and registration process for voters.
Nominations and expressions of support for candidates will be published at latest three weeks before the election, along with candidate biographies and statements of motivation. Further, candidates may present themselves before the election during a session of the RIPE Meeting.
The candidate with the highest number of votes will be elected.
If both seats on the NRO NC need to be filled, and the number of candidates exceeds the number of seats available, instant run-off voting will be used to fill both seats using a single candidate list.
If there is only one confirmed candidate, or as many candidates as empty seats, instead of the voting process, the RIPE Chair will ask the community for an acclamation of the candidate’s election to the role at a Plenary session at the RIPE Meeting during which the elections are supposed to take place.
In case there are no confirmed candidates following the call for nominations, the RIPE Chair can make an interim appointment on behalf of the RIPE community. A new call for nominations should be issued before the next RIPE Meeting, at which time a fresh election can be held.
3. Candidate Eligibility
Anyone can nominate themselves or be nominated to stand as a candidate. Nominees must accept the nomination in order to be confirmed as candidates.
It is expected that candidates are active members of the RIPE community, engaged in community activities and will reply to questions that they might receive related to their candidacy.
3.1 Nomination Process
Any individual residing within the RIPE NCC service region, who has participated in at least three RIPE Meetings, is eligible for nomination, except Regional Internet Registry (RIR) staff members. Self-nominations are permitted.
Nominations must include:
- Name of nominee
- Nominee's country of residence
- Nominee's organisation or employer
- Nominee's email address
- Motivation for nomination
- Name of nominating individual
- Nominator's organisation or employer
All nominees will be contacted by the RIPE NCC to confirm their nomination to the NRO NC. If a nominee cannot be contacted by the RIPE NCC or does not respond to communications sent by the RIPE NCC, their nomination will be rejected. Nominees must confirm their acceptance at the latest by the given deadline to publish the list of confirmed candidates.
Nominees become confirmed candidates after:
- Accepting the nomination in writing
- Submitting a certified copy of an official identification document, in order to verify their identity
- Agreeing to adhere to the RIPE Code of Conduct
These documents must be submitted to the RIPE NCC no later than two weeks before the election. Nominees who do not meet these criteria will be disqualified.
Candidates can also submit a biography, photograph of themselves and a statement of motivation which will be published no later than two weeks before the election.
Any statements of support for candidates will also be published online.
3.2 RIPE Code of Conduct
The RIPE Code of Conduct applies. Violation of the Code of Conduct can result in disqualification from the election process or dismissal from the NRO NC.
4. Voter Eligibility
All RIPE Meeting attendees (except Regional Internet Registry staff) are eligible to vote. This includes those attending in-person and remotely. They must be registered for the RIPE Meeting. Additionally, they must have registered to vote in the NRO NC election and be checked in.
Voting is open to all RIPE Meeting attendees who:
- Have registered online or in person for the RIPE Meeting and have registered to vote in the NRO NC election
- Have checked-in for the meeting ahead of the voting registration deadline
- Have attended (registered and checked-in for) at least one out of the previous eight RIPE Meetings
5. Term Limits
A standard term is three years, starting on 1 January of the first year to the term and ending three years later on 31 December. There is no limit to the maximum number of terms that a member can serve.
6. Resignation
A member elected to the NRO NC can resign before the end of their term by officially notifying the ASO AC, the NRO Secretariat, the ICANN Secretary and the RIPE NCC.
This also automatically amounts to a resignation from the IANA Numbering Services Review Committee (see section 8) and the ASO AC.
If a member resigns before the end of their term, a new election will be held at the next possible opportunity. In this case, it might not be possible to announce the election 60 days in advance. The RIPE Chair will decide in consultation with the RIPE NCC if there is sufficient notice to hold an election or if an interim appointment is needed until the next possible election.
The interim appointee will step down once a fresh election is held. The end date of the original term remains unchanged, and a new election will be held when the term ends.
7. Dismissal of an Elected NRO NC Member
In the unlikely event that a member elected to the NRO NC fails to carry out their responsibilities (for example, they remain unresponsive and do not participate in any of the ASO AC/NRO NC meetings for a period of one year), as a last resort, the RIPE Chair, on behalf of the RIPE community, can recall them from their appointment and ask them to step down. Violations of the RIPE Code of Conduct could also result in the dismissal of an elected member.
The process to be followed by the RIPE NCC Executive Board in case the NRO NC member appointed by them fails to carry out their responsibilities is outside the scope of this document.
8. Applicability to IANA Numbering Services Review Committee (IANA RC)
The RIPE community agreed in September 2015 that the two elected representatives to the NRO NC would also serve as the community representatives on the IANA RC. The term of service on the IANA RC will correspond with the term on the NRO NC. By being elected to the NRO NC, the representative will also serve on the IANA RC. Resignation or dismissal from the NRO NC will automatically result in the resignation or removal of the representative from the IANA RC.
Appendices
Appendix A: References
IANA Review Committee selection
Appendix B: Provenance and Rationale
The NRO NC election process was first discussed by the LIR Working Group at RIPE 34 and RIPE 35.
Voting was initially restricted to attendees physically present at the RIPE Meeting. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the completely virtual RIPE Meetings, the NRO NC election was opened to registered online participants at RIPE 82. Since RIPE 82, all RIPE Meeting attendees who have registered to vote in the NRO NC election and checked-in for the meeting by the deadline are eligible to vote.
In this document, the authors have described existing processes as followed by the RIPE NCC, strengthened certain requirements such as requiring candidates to provide identification documents and have added in the requirement to adhere to the RIPE Code of Conduct. Further, there was no process in place to dismiss an elected NRO NC member. In light of the move to hybrid RIPE Meetings, voter eligibility was also revised.
This RIPE document provides clarity and transparency for community governance purposes and future reference.
Appendix C: Document History
First draft published: 24 April 2023
Revised draft published: 1 September 2023
Third draft published: 4 October 2023
Fourth draft published: 3 November 2023